Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to identify restrictions affecting Ms X’s property when dealing with her application for ‘prior approval’. This is because Ms X claims pure economic loss as a result of the failure and it would be reasonable for her to make a claim for damages against the Council at court.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council failed to identify her property was in a ‘safety hazard area’ as part of its assessment of her original application for ‘prior approval’. She says that as a result she incurred costs submitting a new planning application, seeking advice, undertaking preparatory work and resubmitting the application, all with no prospect of gaining approval to proceed with the development. She wants the Council to reimburse her costs of more than £17,000.

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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. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Ms X’s complaint is essentially that the Council was negligent in not identifying her property was in the safety hazard area.
6. Deciding about whether an organisation has been negligent usually involves looking rigorously, and in a structured way, at evidence as only the court can to make its findings. In addition, only a court can decide if an organisation has been negligent and so should pay damages. The courts are also better placed to determine the extent of any damages and the amount of compensation the organisation should pay.
7. I cannot decide whether the Council was negligent and have no powers to enforce an award of damages. So, I would usually expect someone in Ms X’s position to seek a remedy in the courts, directly or through her insurers. I consider it is reasonable to expect Ms X to use this process as the losses claimed are significant and it is not our role to determine claims for pure economic loss or to award compensation for negligence.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because it would be reasonable for Ms X to make a claim against the Council at court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman