The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision not to proceed with the purchase of a property. This is because we cannot achieve the outcome the complainant wants.
The complaint
Mr X complains that the Council made an offer to purchase his property only to withdraw the offer days later. Mr X says it is likely he would have achieved the full asking price of the property if it wasn’t for the Council’s actions.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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 we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X put a property up for sale. The Council made an offer on the property at the asking price but a few days later withdrew the offer. Mr X later sold the property for £10,000 less than the asking price.
Mr X says had the Council not made and withdrew its offer the property would likely have sold to another buyer at the asking price, and therefore the Council should pay him compensation of £10,000. However, this is entirely speculative. We could not say with any certainty that the Council were responsible for Mr X not achieving the asking price for his property, and therefore cannot therefore achieve the outcome he wants. For this reason we will not investigate Mr X’s complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we cannot achieve the outcome he seeks.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman