Council apology in right-to-buy mix up
Telford and Wrekin Council has apologised after a record-keeping error caused avoidable uncertainty in a resident’s right-to-buy bid.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman says the authority’s decision not to allow a planning condition change that would have allowed “Mrs X” to take advantage of the scheme was made correctly.
The council initially said it had never received an application to make that change, but an email Mrs X herself provided showed the housing association had applied and been refused years before. The watchdog said the authority was at fault for failing to keep that email.
The ombudsman's decision notice said Mrs X later bought her house under a separate scheme that did not need the variation but offered a less favourable discount.
The 1985 Housing Act gave social landlord tenants the right to buy their homes at a discount, provided they met certain criteria, the report explains, adding that those who do not qualify “may still be able to purchase under the ‘Right to Acquire’ scheme”.
In 2018 the government launched a pilot to allow housing association tenants in certain parts of the country the opportunity to purchase their home with Voluntary Right to Buy discounts, but exceptions still applied.
Mrs X lived in a house that was allocated as affordable under a “Section 106 agreement” – a contact made between developers and councils during the planning process.
She received a letter from the housing association and was told she could apply to purchase the house under the scheme. She applied, but her request was refused by the housing association after the council said it would not amend the Section 106 agreement.
In 2020, she ontacted the council to complain about its refusal to amend the Section 106 agreement. The council initially told Mrs X it had not received a formal request from the landowner to vary it.
“However, Mrs X provided an email the council sent to the housing association in February 2019. That said the council refused to amend the agreement as it would result in the loss of affordable housing stock in the area,” the ombudsman said.
The ombusman said the council’s failure to record the email on its system was a fault, and it accepts the council’s apology as remedying any injustice caused.
