Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council

Council slams ombudsman report

Archived news release from 05 February 2003

Council slams ombudsman report
Dudley Council officers are strongly recommending to the Council’s Executive that a report from the Local Government Ombudsman should be rejected.

The report (Complaint No. 01(C)02929) criticises the Council for selling land to a local builder without telling him that he should get a site investigation report and a mining engineer’s report.

Mr. Royal (not the complainant’s real name for legal reasons) bought the land from the Council in 1998. The case revolves around whether the Council had any obligation to provide information regarding the condition of the land or whether Mr. Royal should have taken reasonable steps to make sure that the site was suitable for development.

The normal rule on buying and selling land is that the purchaser is responsible for making all reasonable enquiries before they enter into any contract.

In this particular case the Council have accepted that the Sales Particulars accidentally omitted a sentence that would have alerted Mr. Royal the need to get reports about the condition of the land. However, Mr. Royal then failed to undertake the normal enquiries expected of a purchaser and which would have informed him of the potential problems with development.

John Polychronakis, Dudley Council’s Chief Legal and Property Officer, said:

"Most people buying a house know that it is wise to get a survey done on the prospective property before signing a contract. The onus was upon Mr. Royal to make reasonable enquiries and we are surprised that he failed to do so.

"Last November the Ombudsman came to a provisional conclusion that Mr. Royal as purchaser should have made enquiries expected of a prudent businessman and her conclusion at that stage was that Mr. Royal was two thirds responsible for the additional costs that he had incurred.

"However, when we received her final report, we were astonished to read that she had absolved Mr. Royal from all responsibility.

"Not only is the Ombudsman re-writing the rules of conveyancing in this report, she is asking the Council taxpayer to pay over £9,000 to a complainant who failed to make proper enquiries and is therefore being rewarded for his own negligence. We do not think that this is a reasonable approach and our recommendation to the Executive is that the report should not be accepted."

Release Date: 05 February 2003
Directorate: Legal & Property

Contact: Jan Jennings, Marketing and Communications Officer
Phone: 815219
Email: jan.jennings@dudley.gov.uk
Address: Legal & Property, Dudley MBC, 3 St. James's Road, Dudley, West Midlands. DY1 1HP