Mrs K complained that the Council was threatening to bring enforcement action against her and her husband, Mr K, for failing to obtain listed building consent in respect of alterations to their property. Mrs K said that a planning officer who visited the property in July 2019 told them that listed building consent would not be required for the proposed building works. She said a compliance investigation was closed in 2023 concluding that there had been no breaches, but that a new investigation was opened later that year, after they had agreed a sale of the property. She said that the Council told parties to the sale about the compliance investigation, causing the sale to fall through. She said that, in addition to the distress and anxiety caused, they had incurred significant legal costs, including to settle a claim for breach of contract.
The Ombudsman noted that an independent investigation carried out at Stage 2 of the Council’s complaints process had upheld Mrs K’s complaint that there had been a failure to provide appropriate guidance to Mr and Mrs K in respect of listed building consents. The Ombudsman considered that the financial redress previously offered by the Council was insufficient, taking into account that, had they been appropriately advised, it was unlikely that Mr and Mrs K would have sought to sell the property.
In settlement of the complaint to the Ombudsman, the Council agreed to apologise for the impact of its failure to provide appropriate information about the need for listed building consent, and to make a financial redress payment of £1,044. This included £294 which had previously been offered by the Council, and an additional £750 in respect of the significant distress caused to Mr and Mrs K by the Council’s failings.