Summary: Miss J complained the Council has lost the deeds to her late father’s house, making it difficult to sell and possibly reducing its value. We have decided to discontinue this investigation. This is because we cannot practically investigate the loss of the deeds, and claims for significant financial loss should be made to the courts.

The complaint

1. I will refer to the complainant as Miss J.
2. Miss J complains the Council has lost the deeds to her late father’s house. As a result, she is finding it difficult to sell, and the loss may have significantly devalued the property. She also says that, in the meantime, she is still having to pay council tax and utility bills for the property.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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 no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation, that we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or there is another body better placed to consider this complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered evidence provided by Miss J and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.

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What I found

6. In 1965, the Council took possession of the deeds to Miss J’s father’s house, as security for a charge it had registered against the property. In 1983, the Council wrote a letter to Miss J’s father’s bank, confirming it could not locate the deeds.
7. Miss J inherited the property after her father died and is now trying to sell it. In correspondence between Miss J’s conveyancer and the Council, it again confirmed it had searched its records for the deeds without success. The Council said it would provide a statutory declaration to this effect, to allow Miss J to register the property with the Land Registry.
8. In October 2024, Miss J made a complaint to the Council about the loss of the deeds. The Council refused to accept the complaint, on the basis it was already providing an appropriate remedy by giving the statutory declaration, and because the matter was out of time for investigation under its complaints policy.
9. In November, Miss J referred her complaint to the Ombudsman. She described the financial and psychological impact of the loss of the deeds, and explained she may only now able to receive a possessory title for the property, which would significantly devalue it. Miss J said she was seeking ‘financial compensation for loss’.

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Analysis

10. The law says a person should approach us within 12 months of becoming aware of an issue they wish to complain about.
11. It is in fact unclear when Miss J found out about the loss of the deeds, but I infer from her correspondence with the Council it was relatively recently. I accept, therefore, this time restriction may not apply here, in the strict sense.
12. Either way, it is clear the Council lost the deeds sometime between 1965 and 1983. We cannot practically or meaningfully investigate a complaint about something which happened so long ago, even acknowledging the Council does not dispute it.
13. Moreover, Miss J’s complaint to the Ombudsman says she is seeking financial compensation for the loss the missing deeds represent. However, while we have the power to recommend a financial remedy, this is typically a modest figure intended only to reflect a person’s distress or frustration arising from a council fault. Miss J says the fault in this case may have caused a very significant financial loss, because of the potential devaluation of the property, and compensation claims such as this are instead a matter for the courts to consider.
14. An investigation by us would therefore not provide a meaningful conclusion, or give Miss J the outcome she is seeking, and for these reasons I do not consider it would be proportionate for us to complete an investigation.

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Decision

15. I have discontinued my investigation.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman