The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a disputed right to buy discount as Miss X can take her case to court.
The complaint
Miss X complains the Council has wrongly determined her entitlement to the discount on the sale price of her Council property, under right to buy (RTB) provisions. Miss X says she submitted her application prior to the change in law when discount entitlement was reduced and so considers she is entitled to the higher discount under the previous legislation.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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 the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Section 181 of the Housing Act 1985 provides a RTB applicant with the right to ask the County Court to determine any question arising under Part V of the Act (all the provisions relating to RTB). The restriction in paragraph three therefore applies to this complaint.
As the law expressly provides this route for resolving such disputes, we would normally expect RTB applicants to use it, with legal advice if necessary. There might be some cost to court action, but that alone does not automatically make taking such action unreasonable, particularly in the context of a house purchase.
The court would provide a formal legal ruling on the discount entitlement which we are not empowered to do.
For these reasons, it is reasonable to expect Miss X to ask the court to determine the matter and we will not therefore investigate.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because she can take her case to court and it is reasonable to expect her to do so.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman