The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the information provided to the complainant about the Right to Buy process when she accepted a tenancy of a Council property. This is because we cannot investigate complaints about the Council acting in its role as a registered social housing provider.
The complaint
Mrs X complains that when she was offered a tenancy of a Council property, the Council failed to provide any information about the impact of the ‘cost floor rule’ on the discount applied to any future Right to Buy (RtB) application.
Mrs X says this has caused her emotional distress, financial loss, and frustration. She accepted the tenancy believing she could buy the property with a discount after three years, and invested in improving it in the meantime. Instead, the impact of the cost floor rule on her RtB application means she cannot afford to buy the property.
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)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council, which included their complaint correspondence and a letter from the Housing Ombudsman to Mrs X.
I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The restriction detailed in paragraph 3 above appears to apply to Mrs X’s complaint. This is because the complaint is about the actions (or inaction) of the Council in its role as a registered social housing provider, when Mrs X was deciding to accept the tenancy. We have no jurisdiction to consider such complaints.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because the complaint is outside our jurisdiction.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman