Arun District Council Pays Damages After Error Cost House Owner £5,000

Wednesday, 10 August 2022 06:00

By Jessica Hubbard @jhjourno

Arun District Council has paid damages to a woman after an error cost her more than £5,000.

The woman – who has been called ‘Mrs X’ for privacy reasons – bought her council house through Right to Buy in 2016.

When a council tenant buys their property through the scheme they receive a discount on the home’s value.

But they may have to pay a portion of this discount back to the council if they sell the property.

Last year, Mrs X sold her home and was told she would have to pay back some of the discount.

But the council gave her the wrong figure in error.

ADC told Mrs X she would have to repay £12,950. She was only told the correct total of £18,722 after contracts had been exchanged.

This was because ADC had calculated the amount based on the properties value when it was bought by Mrs X and had failed to tell her this could increase depending on the final sale price.

Mrs X then complained to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, which found in her favour.

“The injustice to Mrs X is that she proceeded with a significant financial transaction on the clear understanding she would have to repay £12,950 of the discount,” the ombudsman said in a report.

“She was dismayed to find out she had been misinformed and would have to repay an extra £5,772 to the Council.

“She and her family had not budgeted for this unexpected expense and they had no option but to borrow the money.

“This was a very stressful and worrying experience for them.”

The ombudsman ordered the council to pay back £5,772 to Mrs X as well as £150 in recognition of the distress its error caused her and her family.

An Arun District Council spokesperson said:

“We have acknowledged and accepted the ombudsman’s findings and decision.

“We are sorry for the inconvenience and upset caused to our resident and have apologised to them.

“As a result of this incident, we have reviewed our processes to prevent anything similar happening again.”