The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about whether the complainant is liable to pay council tax. This is because the complainant could reasonably exercise her right of appeal to tribunal.
The complaint
The complainant (Ms K) complains the Council has wrongly classified her property as a house of multiple occupation (HMO) which has resulted in it billing her for unpaid council tax. Ms K disputes her liability to pay council tax, saying the occupiers are students.
In summary, Ms K says she is being billed for council tax she is not liable for. As a desired outcome, she wants the Council to be held accountable for the alledged fault and to compensate her for the impact this has had.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference or review to a tribunal about the same matter. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended).
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Decisions about whether someone is liable to pay council tax carries a right of appeal to the Valuation Tribunal, including whether a property is a HMO. Given this is the body Parliament established to resolve such disputes, and because Ms K has legal representation, I consider it reasonable for her to exercise that right of appeal. As such, we have no legal jurisdiction to investigate this complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the restriction I outline at paragraph three (above) applies.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman