The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of a planning enforcement issue regarding her property. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s response to her solicitor’s local land searches because it would be reasonable for her to take the matter to court.
The complaint
The complainant, Miss X, complains the Council failed to inform her solicitor about a planning enforcement issue concerning her property before she completed her purchase. She says she is currently unable to sell her house and that despite telling her it will not seek to demolish it, it refuses to confirm this in writing.
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 effect 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 an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended) 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 Miss X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council has explained to Miss X that it is dealing with the developer who built her property to try to resolve the enforcement issue. While negotiations are ongoing it does not wish to prejudice its position by stating in writing what steps it may be willing to take. This is unfortunate for Miss X but we could not say it is fault.
We also could not say that providing written confirmation that it will not pursue demolition of the property would fundamentally change Miss X’s position. This is because it is unlikely a buyer would be willing to purchase her property while there is an outstanding planning enforcement issue, even if the Council confirmed it did not wish to demolish it. There are several other options available to the Council to deal with the breach of planning control and any new owner could potentially become liable for any remedial action.
Ultimately Miss X believes the Council is responsible for her current situation because it did not provide details of the enforcement case in response to her solicitor’s local authority searches. But this is something it would be reasonable for her to argue at court as part of a claim for compensation.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s approach to the planning enforcement case and if Miss X believes she has suffered a loss as a result of the Council’s response to her solicitor’s enquiries it would be reasonable for her to make a claim at court.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman