Mr A complained that Cyngor Gwynedd (“the Council”) had unfairly charged a premium council tax on an empty property that he was selling. He said that the sale of the house was delayed due to administrative errors made by the Council during property searches.
The Ombudsman noted that the Council had responded toMr A’s complaint, providing a timeline of the council tax classifications placed on the property. However the Ombudsman was concerned that the Council’s complaint response did not address the concern that delays with the sale of the property were as a result of its administrative errors. The Ombudsman was therefore concerned that the Council’s decision to award a premium council tax rate on the property was made without investigating whether it was at fault for the delays. The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without an investigation.
The Ombudsman sought and gained the Council’s agreement to, within 3 weeks, apologise to Mr A, to investigate the delays to the property searches, decide upon whether the investigation outcome should result in a reassessment of the council tax award, and to provide an updated complaint response.