The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about damp at a property Mr X bought from the Council. Mr X purchased the property without a survey for damp and so we cannot say that any Council fault caused the injustice Mr X claims.
The complaint
Mr X was a Council tenant and bought the property from the Council. Whilst he was still a tenant, the Council carried out work at the property to treat damp. Mr X says that after buying the property, he found there was still a problem with damp. Mr X wants the Council to pay for his repairs.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We cannot investigate complaints about the provision or management of social housing by a council acting as a registered social housing provider. (Local Government Act 1974, paragraph 5A schedule 5, as amended) 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 any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or there is another body better placed to consider this complaint (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X did not pay for a survey that would have identified damp, before buying the property, as he believed the Council had rectified the problem when he was a tenant.
We cannot investigate the standard or effectiveness of any repair the Council did at the property when Mr X was a tenant as we have no remit to investigate the Council’s actions as a manager of social housing, as per paragraph two.
We cannot say that Council fault caused Mr X injustice, when he entered into the purchase of the property freely and without having a survey on the property.
If Mr X considers the Council misled him in respect of information it provided to him in relation to the sale, then he should seek legal advice as this is a legal matter that could ultimately only be decided by the courts.
For these reasons, we will not investigate.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we cannot say Council fault caused Mr X injustice.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman