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Thirteen Housing Group Limited (202126558)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202126558

Thirteen Housing Group Limited

22 August 2022


Our approach

The Housing Ombudsman’s approach to investigating and determining complaints is to decide what is fair in all the circumstances of the case. This is set out in the Housing Act 1996 and the Housing Ombudsman Scheme (the Scheme). The Ombudsman considers the evidence and looks to see if there has been any ‘maladministration’, for example whether the landlord has failed to keep to the law, followed proper procedure, followed good practice or behaved in a reasonable and competent manner.

Both the resident and the landlord have submitted information to the Ombudsman and this has been carefully considered. Their accounts of what has happened are summarised below. This report is not an exhaustive description of all the events that have occurred in relation to this case, but an outline of the key issues as a background to the investigation’s findings.

The complaint

  1. This complaint is about the landlord’s response to the resident’s request to purchase her home under the Right to Buy scheme (RTB).

Background

  1. The resident is a tenant of the landlord. The landlord is a housing association that acquired a property from a local authority on 15 November 2004. The landlord’s internal correspondence explains that the resident’s tenancy at that property started in May 2005. The resident moved to a new property several years later, but still with the same landlord.
  2. The Right to Buy scheme (RTB) provides a discount for eligible tenants of local authorities who wish to buy their homes. This is in contrast to the Right to Acquire (RTA), which gives a different discount to tenants of housing associations. The two schemes are separate and are not interchangeable. If a housing association purchases homes from a local authority, the tenants already living in the homes previously owned by the local authority will usually have a ‘preserved right to buy’, meaning that they will likely remain eligible for the RTB scheme.
  3. In her complaint the resident explained that she has been trying to buy her home for the past three years. The landlord has explained that the resident has not applied to the RTB and so there is no information regarding her application available. This Service has not been provided with any correspondence that predates her complaint concerning her desire to use the RTB.
  4. The resident contacted the landlord in March 2022, stating that she was dissatisfied that she could not use RTB, as she believed that she met the criteria for the scheme. In response, the landlord explained that as the resident was not a tenant of the local authority at the time the housing association acquired her property, she did not have a preserved right to buy, and was therefore not eligible for the scheme. It subsequently signposted the resident to apply for RTA.
  5. The resident escalated her complaint as she disagreed with the landlord’s findings. She referred to there being a gap in her tenancy which had affected her eligibility, and said that she had not been “notified at the time at all when I moved into the property in…2005 about any of these changes when I signed the tenancy agreement!” The landlord sent its final complaint response, and explained again the eligibility criteria for RTB. It maintained its original position about the resident’s eligibility.
  6. In her complaint to this Service the resident explained that she would like the landlord to allow her to use the RTB scheme to purchase her home.

Assessment and findings

  1. The landlord’s website states that not every tenant is eligible for RTB. It explains that to be eligible, the resident must have been a secure tenant of a local authority and been living in their home when it was transferred to the current housing association. The resident was not a tenant living in the property when it was transferred on 15 November 2004, as she moved into her first property with this landlord on 10 October 2005. This means that she does not have a preserved RTB and cannot benefit from the scheme. While this Service understands that this is disappointing for the resident, this scheme is governed by government guidance and it is not possible for the landlord, or this Service, to make her eligible for the RTB discount.
  2. The landlord acted appropriately in its response to the resident, as it acknowledged her complaint, sought accurate information from the appropriate department, and explained that information to her. It also signposted her to the correct scheme which, as a housing association tenant, would be RTA.
  3. The resident stated in her complaint escalation that she had not been told when signing her tenancy agreement that she would not be able to benefit from RTB. Unfortunately, tenants of housing associations have different rights to those of local authorities and these are not always interchangeable. It is not possible to comment on what the resident’s original tenancy agreement said, however her current tenancy agreement states that the resident may have the right to acquire her home (RTA). It makes no reference to RTB. Additionally, the information provided on the landlord’s website concerning the RTB scheme explains how a preserved RTB works, and who it would be applicable to.
  4. Overall, nothing in the evidence provided for this investigation indicates the resident was ever eligible for RTB, and so the landlord’s actions and explanations were appropriate and reasonable.

Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with paragraph 54 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was no maladministration by the landlord in respect of the complaint.