The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about fees charged by the Council for Ms X to buy the freehold to her property. Ms X entered freely into the purchase and as such, we cannot say the injustice she claims arises from any Council fault.
The complaint
Ms X purchased the freehold title to her property from the Council but is now unhappy about the Council fees she paid and as she says the Council instructed her to obtain her own solicitor. Ms X says this was unnecessary and resulted in extra cost to her.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council set out the terms and conditions of the sale in an offer letter to Ms X. Ms X completed on the purchase, thus accepting those terms and conditions.
While I recognise Ms X now feels the charges were unfair, she entered freely into the purchase. It was open to Ms X not to enter into the agreement and as such, we cannot say the injustice Ms X claims arises directly from any Council fault. We will not therefore investigate.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because it was Ms X’s own choice to accept the terms of the sale and so we cannot say that any Council fault directly caused the injustice Ms X claims.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman