Summary: The complainant says the Council is overcharging her for a storage unit she rents from it. The Ombudsman found no evidence of fault by the Council and for this reason he has ended his consideration of this complaint.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I shall call Ms X, says the Council is overcharging her for a storage unit she rents from it. She says the charge is higher than for other comparable units. Ms X was also initially charged £600 for a license fee for the unit which she says is unfair.

What I have investigated

2. I have investigated Ms X’s concerns about the charges she has incurred for renting a unit from the Council. I have not considered her concerns about the Council removing her padlock from the unit and the later parts of my statement explain my reasons for not doing so.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. As part of my investigation I discussed the complaint with Ms X and considered information she provided. I made enquiries of the Council and I considered its response and information it provided. I set out my initial thoughts on the complaint in a draft decision statement and I invited Ms X and the Council to comment.

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What I found

Legislative background

Local Government Act, Section 123 (2)

6. Except with the consent of the Secretary of State, a council shall not dispose of land under this section, otherwise than by way of a short tenancy, for a consideration less than the best that can be reasonably obtained.

Background

7. Ms X rents a storage unit from the Council for £520 rent per year.
8. In early 2017 the Council had four vacant storage units and it decided to review the rental charges. It compared its own charges with those of other storage providers and decided to raise its annual rents for the available units. The two larger units would have an annual rent of £1200 and the two smaller units would have an annual rent of £1000. Renting a unit would also be subject to a £600 license fee.
9. Ms X told the Council she would like to rent Unit Y which is one of the larger units, in addition to her existing unit. The Council said there were three other parties interested in the units. It corresponded with the parties to establish who would rent each unit. All parties agreed to the annual charges.
10. In April the Council offered Unit Y to Ms X. Before accepting this, she challenged the licence fee of £600 and the Council agreed to reduce it to £250.
11. In May the Council sent Ms X a license for Unit Y. She completed the agreement and paid the £250 licence fee and the first quarter’s rent. She received the keys in June.
12. The Council says the other parties withdrew from the process and the other three units remain vacant.
13. In May 2018 another party submitted a Freedom of Information (FoI) request asking for details of the rents charged for the units relevant to this complaint.
14. The Council’s response stated that the other larger unit available in early 2017 had an annual rent of £800. This was an error; the rent charged for this unit was £1200, the same as Unit Y.
15. Ms X learnt of the Council’s response to the FoI request. She questioned the Council about the charge and it told her the response was wrong.
16. In July Ms X complained to the Council about the amount of rent it was charging her for Unit Y and that it should be reduced. The Council did not agree.
17. Ms X escalated her complaint. She said:

• The fee for Unit Y was too high and should be the same as her original unit.
• The Council misinformed her that other parties had agreed to pay an annual rent of £1200.
• She had not been charged a licence fee previously and so she should not have been charged a licence fee for her license for Unit Y.

18. The Council replied saying:

• The fees it charged for storage units were revised in early 2017. It was Ms X’s choice to accept the fee.
• There were other parties interested in the available units in early 2017. Ms X was informed about this to ensure she understood the demand for the available units.
• The Council charges a standard fee of £600 for any license it grants. As a gesture of goodwill it reduced the fee for Ms X and she only paid £250.

19. Ms X remains unhappy and says she is being charged too much and more than other tenants.

Analysis

20. Ms X is unhappy with the rent charged by the Council for Unit Y. This is because it is higher than the amount she is charged for her other unit. Ms X was advised of the rent level before she accepted Unit Y and it was therefore her choice to accept the rent the Council was asking.
21. I note that Ms X has suggested the increase in rent for Unit Y is too high. It is for the Council to decide how much it charges for land at its disposal. Legislation on this matter says the Council should charge the best rent it can reasonably obtain. I do not consider the Council is at fault in this matter.
22. In the FoI response referred to above the Council said it was only charging £800 for an equivalent unit. For this reason Ms X feels she is being unfairly charged a higher amount by the Council for Unit Y. However, the Council has explained the FoI response is incorrect and the charge for the unit is the same as Unit Y. I have seen emails between the Council and the parties interested in renting the other unit. These communications say the rent for the unit is £1200 per year. For this reason, I do not consider there are grounds to conclude the rent being charged for Unit Y is higher than other comparable units.
23. Ms X says she felt pressured by the Council to accept Unit Y as she was told there were other parties interested. She feels this was untrue as the other units remain vacant. I have seen correspondence between the Council and the other interested parties and I am satisfied that others were interested. I do not consider the Council advising Ms X about the level of interest in the units was for any other purpose than to make her aware.
24. Lastly Ms X says the Council should not have charged her a license fee for the unit. It is for the Council to decide what charges it will level for its services. Ms X was aware of the fee and it was her decision to proceed. Further, Ms X complained about the charge at the time and was offered a discounted fee which she accepted.

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Final decision

25. I have ended my investigation of the complaint as I have not found any evidence of fault by the Council.

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Parts of the complaint that I did not investigate

26. Ms X has raised concerns about the Council removing her padlock from Unit Y. She says she has not been able to access the unit since it did so. Ms X has made a complaint to the Council about this matter and it is currently replying to her. The Ombudsman must allow the Council the opportunity to reply to a complaint before it can investigate the matter. For this reason, I cannot consider this part of Ms X’s complaint.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman