The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s management of a lease on his property. This is because it is reasonable for Mr X to take the matter to court.
The complaint
Mr X complains the Council allowed its tenants to remain in his property longer than the contracted time and communicated with him poorly. He would like the Council to evict its tenants and pay him for damage they caused.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X owns a property which he leases to the Council through an agency. Mr X’s complaint relates to his contract with the Council. Interpreting contracts are matters for the courts, not the Ombudsman. It is reasonable for Mr X to take the matter to court.
It is also reasonable for Mr X to raise his complaint about the Council’s tenants causing over £10,000 of damage to his property in court. The court is best placed to consider and remedy any breach of contract and significant financial loss. Therefore, I will not consider this matter further.
It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about poor communication where we are not investigating the substantive issues.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is reasonable for him to take the matter to court.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman