Summary: We will not investigate this complaint the Council failed to take enforce breach of planning conditions. Part of the complaint is late, and the Council has since taken enforcement action. Therefore, there is nothing worthwhile to be achieved through further investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council failed to take enforcement action against his neighbour after they breached planning permission. He said that resulted in the sale of his property falling through. He said the Council had failed to respond to his complaints properly for six years.
2. Mr X said the Council’s actions had caused him and his family to suffer. He wants the Council to reimburse his conveyancing fees and financially compensate him for the lost sale of his 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 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)
5. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
6. 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

7. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
8. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

9. Mr X’s complaints concern the Council’s actions from 2019 onwards. He did not complain to the Ombudsman until April 2025. Therefore, any complaints about the Council’s actions that occurred before April 2024 are late and we will not investigate. That is because we expect a person to complain to us within twelve months of becoming aware of a matter. It was reasonable for Mr X to complain to us sooner if he was unhappy with what the Council had done.
10. We will also not investigate the Council’s lack of enforcement action from April 2024 onwards. The Council explained to Mr X that it placed its enforcement action on hold whilst it was waiting the outcome of a new planning application made by his neighbour. There is not enough evidence of fault in how it made that decision to justify our involvement.
11. The Council subsequently refused that planning application. It then decided to take enforcement action against Mr X’s neighbour several months later. As the Council has now taken enforcement action, there is nothing worthwhile to be achieved by us investigating this period further.
12. In addition to the above, Mr X wants financial reimbursement for his conveyancing fees and financial compensation following the lost sale of his property. If Mr X believes the Council is liable for these costs, that would be a matter for the courts, not the Ombudsman.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because most of it is late. There is nothing worthwhile to be achieved by us investigating more recent events.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman