Summary: The Ombudsman cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s delay in issuing a deed of variation for works to his property. This is because the complaint concerns the Council’s actions as freeholder of a property let on a long lease and such actions fall outside our jurisdiction.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council has delayed in issuing a deed of variation for works on his property.

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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.
3. We cannot investigate complaints about the provision or management of housing let on a long lease by a council acting as a registered social housing provider. (Local Government Act 1974, paragraph 5B, schedule 5, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I reviewed Mr X’s complaint and the Council’s response.

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What I found

5. Mr X owns the leaseholder for a property which is owned by the Council as freeholder. He has recently extended the property and applied to the Council to issue a deed of variation for the lease. He paid the Council’s £912 fee in 2018 but says the Council has refused to issue the deed.
6. The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint. This is because we have no jurisdiction to investigate complaints about councils acting in their capacity as freeholder of a property let on a long lease.

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Final decision

7. The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint. This is because the complaint concerns the Council’s actions as freeholder and the matter is therefore outside our jurisdiction.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman