Summary: Mr X complained about the Council’s actions when it rented a property from him. Mr X said the Council did not review the rent and pay the rental value between June 2018 and June 2023, did not maintain the property or return it to Mr X in line with the terms of the contract. Mr X also complained about the Council’s poor communication and poor complaint handling. I have ended my investigation as Mr X could take the matter to court.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Council’s actions when it rented a property from him. Mr X said the Council did not review the rent and pay the rental value between June 2018 and June 2023, did not maintain the property or return it to Mr X in line with the terms of the contract. Mr X also complained about the Council’s poor communication and poor complaint handling. Mr X said the Council’s actions meant that his family could not live together and had to stay with family. Mr X wanted the Council to return the property to him in line with the contract, and compensate him for the inconvenience and the missed rental value.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. It is our decision whether to start, and when to end an investigation into something the law allows us to investigate. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)
3. 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)
4. 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

5. I considered the documents Mr X sent.
6. I read the document the Council provided in response to our contact.
7. Mr X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

8. Mr X leased a property he owned to the Council in June 2018 for a period of five years. Mr X and the Council signed a contract setting out the terms and conditions of the arrangement.
9. In June 2023 the lease ended and Mr X expected to receive his property back in line with the terms of the contract. The Council did not return the property.
10. In January 2024 Mr X complained to the Council about the matters set out in paragraph one of this decision statement.
11. The Council responded to Mr X’s complaint in April 2024 and said it was completing remedial works to the property in line with the contract and intended to return the property later that month. It declined to pay Mr X additional rent and directed him to us if he remained dissatisfied.
12. Mr X complained to us in May 2024.

My findings

13. I have ended my investigation. This is because Mr X complained about the Council’s action in relation to a contractual arrangement he had with it. Mr X could take that matter to court, and there is no good reason why he could not do so.
14. In addition Mr X’s complaint about the increase in rental payments is late as he was aware of the matter for more than 12 months before he complained to us. There is no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate that point now.
15. Mr X also complained about the Council’s communication and complaint handling. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue. Therefore, I have not investigated this element of Mr X’s complaint.
16. For the reasons above I have ended my investigation.

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Final decision

17. I have ended my investigation because Mr X could take the matter to court.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman