Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of a “right to buy” application. It is reasonable to expect Mr X to take court action.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about various alleged faults in the Council’s handling of his application to buy his home from the Council after June 2024, culminating in the Council cancelling the application in January 2026.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X argues the Council mishandled his application, including by cancelling it without first contacting him for missing information. Due to changes in the “right to buy” discount rules, Mr X’s discount will be £47,000 lower if he reapplies to buy his home. He wants his original application reinstated.
6. The law allows the county court to decide any dispute about the 'right to buy' except for disputes about the valuation of property; valuation is not relevant to this complaint. (Housing Act 1985, section 181) So the restriction in paragraph 2 applies to this complaint. The court could decide whether the Council was at fault, including for cancelling the application in the circumstances, and whether the Council should now reinstate the application with the previous discount.
7. As the law expressly provides this route for resolving such disputes, we normally expect applicants to use it, with legal advice if necessary. There might be some cost to court action, but that alone does not automatically make taking court action unreasonable, particularly in the context of a transaction for a valuable asset such as Mr X's home. The court could also make a binding order if it saw fit, which the Ombudsman could not. For these reasons, it is reasonable to expect Mr X to use the right to go to court.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is reasonable to expect him to use his right to take court action.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman