Ombudsman raps council for failure to implement recommendations in report

The Local Government Ombudsman has sharply criticised a district council for failing to implement its recommendations in full following a report about the historic sale of two council houses.

In the original report the LGO found that South Oxfordshire District Council had failed to tell the purchasers of the homes of the full extent of a restriction on the property under s. 157 of the Housing Act.

The restriction stated that the homes should only have been sold to people living in a specific area. The council also did not check if the homeowners, who lived outside the area at the time of their purchases, were entitled to buy the properties.

By the time the homeowners decided to sell in 2014, the council had revised its policy and was enforcing this local restriction. Because of this, one of the homeowners lost a sale, while the other’s sale was made more difficult. The sales prices of both houses were affected, the LGO said.

Finding fault on the part of South Oxfordshire, the Ombudsman recommended that the district valuer be instructed to assess the value of the properties at the point at which both homeowners sold them with the same partial restriction imposed as when they bought them and compare it with the value of the properties when they were sold with the full restriction.

According to the LGO, the district valuer completed an assessment of the properties’ values but had been instructed to do so with a less stringent interpretation of the s. 157 restriction than the council imposed on the homeowners when the properties were sold.

The LGO had also recommended that South Oxfordshire pay 50% of the difference to both homeowners, if the values were affected, and the local authority had not agreed to do this.

“Neither has the council provided the Ombudsman with a copy of the valuation for one of the homeowner’s houses,” the LGO said.

South Oxfordshire has continued to argue that the onus was on the homeowners’ solicitors to check the full details and inform them of the restrictions when they purchased the properties.

The Local Government Ombudsman, Dr Jane Martin, said: “While I welcome the improvements the council has made to its policies and procedures following my initial report, I am disappointed it has not implemented my recommendations in full.

“The council has a responsibility to provide full and accurate information in response to solicitors’ enquiries. Its failure to do so contributed to the potential financial losses suffered by the two homeowners.

“I now urge the council to reconsider my report and provide the remedy I have recommended in full.”

South Oxfordshire District Council has been approached for comment.