Summary: Mr X complains about the Council’s response to his attempt to purchase an area of land adjacent to his home. The Ombudsman will not investigate the complaint because past events happened too long ago to be investigated now and an investigation of more recent events is unlikely to find evidence of fault.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Mr X, says the Council is using extortion by offering to sell him land adjacent to his property at a price higher than an offer it made in 2017. He says the Council gave no reason why it stopped the original sale and that he has incurred costs and wasted time trying to purchase the land.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. In considering the complaint I reviewed the information provided by Mr X and the Council. I gave Mr X the opportunity to comment on my draft decision and considered what he said.

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What I found

5. Mr X wishes to purchase from the Council an area of land which is adjacent to his property.
6. In 2017 the Council made an offer of £5340 for the sale of the property. The sale did not go through as the Council decided to keep the land at that time. It told Mr X and his wife of its decision and in 2018 it addressed a complaint made by Mr X about the matter. It confirmed the land was no longer for sale and advised him he could complain to the Ombudsman if he was unhappy with the Council’s response.
7. In 2019 Mr X contacted the Council again expressing his desire to purchase the land. The Council re-valued the land and offered it to Mr X for £6900. Mr X declined this offer as well as a subsequent lower offer of £6200 and told the Council he should not have to pay more than the original offer price from 2017.
8. The Council has written to Mr X to explain its position and to repeat its final offer of £6200. Mr X has been told if he does not accept this offer within a fixed time the offer will be permanently withdrawn and the matter closed.

Assessment

9. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate. The restriction highlighted at paragraph 2 of this statement applies to past events from 2017 and 2018. I see no grounds to exercise discretion to investigate them now.
10. With regard to Mr X’s 2019 approach to the Council to buy the land, it valued the land and made an offer, which it later reduced as a good will gesture by £700. Mr X refused this offer and it is open to him to decide whether to respond to the Council’s final offer.
11. Mr X would like to pay the amount quoted from 2017. However, as the Council has explained, the price of land fluctuates over time and as the value of land had increased it was not able to make the same offer it had made over two years before. While this is disappointing for Mr X, the Council has a duty to its taxpayers to ensure that any disposal of land is done so at the best price that can reasonably be obtained.
12. In responding to my draft decision Mr X has made mention of the actions of an officer who he believes influenced the Council’s decision not to sell the land to him back in 2017. However, due to the passage of time, this is not a matter we will investigate now. Mr X was advised by the Council in 2018 that he could bring his complaint about these events to the Ombudsman but he did not do so until two years later.

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Final decision

13. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because past events happened too long ago to be investigated now and an investigation of more recent events is unlikely to find evidence of fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman