Oxford City Council (25 027 291)
Category : Housing > Council house sales and leaseholders
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 25 May 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a delayed right to buy sale as it is made late and there are not good reasons to investigate now.
The complaint
- Mrs X complains about delay in the Council completing on her right to buy (RTB) purchase of the property she rented from it. Mrs X complains the Council did not inform her of her rights regarding a delayed sale. Mrs X seeks compensation from the Council.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mrs X completed on the purchase of her home in December 2024 and complained to us in February 2026. Any delay by the Council in completing the sale took place therefore more than a year before Mrs X complained to us and as such, her complaint is made late. The restriction in paragraph three therefore applies. I consider it is reasonable to expect Mrs X to have complained sooner, given the Council referred her to us in March 2025 in its complaint decision. I do not consider therefore that there are good reasons for us to investigate this late complaint now.
- Notwithstanding the above, the law provides a process whereby a purchaser can seek recompense for a delayed sale, by issuing notice of delay forms to the seller. I recognise Mrs X says the Council did not advise her of this. I cannot comment on this but even if it was the case, such information is readily available on the internet, on the Council’s website and could have been supplied by Mrs X’s own legal representation. Had the time restriction not applied, it is likely that we would have considered it reasonable to expect Mrs X to have followed the statutory delay process and that as such, it is unlikely we would have investigated.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is made late and there are not good reasons to investigate now.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman