London Borough of Havering (19 017 201)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: Mr X complains the Council charged him to remove an enforcement notice on his home that he was unaware of. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint we are unlikely to find fault in the Council’s actions.
The complaint
- Mr X complains the Council charged him £848 to remove an enforcement notice registered against his property that he was unaware of. He wants his money back.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe it is unlikely we would find fault.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A (6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- When selling his home, Mr X says the prospective buyer discovered an enforcement notice registered against his home. This dated from 1961 and related to activities carried out by a previous owner.
- To ensure the sale went through, Mr X says he had to pay the Council £848 to remove the notice.
- Mr X says he bought the house 35 years ago and was not told about the enforcement notice when he carried out his property searches. He says there were at least 3 other owners of the property between 1961 when the notice was served and him buying the property. He says none of the following owners, including him were aware of the notice. He believes the Council is at fault for not advising him of the notice when he bought his home and should refund the money he had to pay to get it removed.
- The Council says the notice was registered against the property and had the correct searches been carried out when each buyer bought the house, including Mr X, it would have come to light.
- The Council says removing enforcement notices is a discretionary service. Details on how to remove an enforcement is available on its website. This gives 2 alternatives:
- For written confirmation that a planning enforcement notice has been complied with or has no effect of the current date the fee is £148.50
- To request written confirmation that a planning enforcement notice has been complied with and withdrawal of the notice from the land charges register and the website, the fee is £848.72.
In Mr X’s case he chose the second option and paid the relevant fee.
- I understand Mr X considers it unfair that he had to pay to get the enforcement notice removed when he was not aware it was registered against his home. However, it is possible the relevant questions were not asked during the conveyancing carried out when he bought his home 35 years ago.
- It remains the enforcement notice was registered against the property and the Council followed its published procedures, including charging a fee, when it removed it.
Final decision
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman