Rutland County Council (25 005 071)
Category : Other Categories > Land
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 25 Sep 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about delay in the Council’s sale of land to Mr X. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner.
The complaint
- Mr X complained about the delay’s in processing the Council’s sale of a piece of land to him. He says the legal process has delayed his project for the site and that tax costs have risen in the time it has taken.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council’s response.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X says he has been negotiating with the Council to purchase a piece of land which it approved for sale in July 2023. He says his project for the land has been delayed due to poor communication and procedural delays. As a result, he says that the costs of his proposed project for the land are increasing.
- We will not investigate this complaint which was received outside the normal 12-month period. The time for receiving complaints is from when someone became aware of the matter they wished to complain about, not when they complained to the Council or it issued its final response. We would expect someone to complain to us within a year, even if they were dissatisfied with the time the complaints procedure was taking.
Final decision
- We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about delay in the Council’s sale of land to Mr X. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman