Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the delay by the Council in buying Mrs X’s property. This is because we cannot achieve the outcome she wants, and there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

The complaint

1. Mrs X agreed to sell her property to the Council. In December 2022 the Council asked Mrs X to vacate her property by March 2023 so it could be purchased by the end of the financial year.
2. Mrs X vacated her property but the sale was not finalised until March 2025.
3. Mrs X is out of pocket due to the delay and would like to be reimbursed for this.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:
• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mrs X agreed the sale of her property to the Council. There was delay to the sale caused by different factors.
8. The Council have no legal obligation to Mrs X before exchange of contracts. Mrs X was free to cancel the sale and find another buyer, or move back into her property.
9. We cannot direct the Council to pay back any monies, because it is a voluntary arrangement and Mrs X could have withdrawn at any point, and in any case we could not achieve the outcome she seeks. Any payments we recommend are very modest and to symbolise the loss rather than awarding compensation. If Mrs X wants compensation she would need to apply to the courts. 
10. The Council apologised for the late complaint responses to Mrs X. However we will not investigate this as 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.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman