Home ownership

We do not consider complaints about ‘Right to Buy’ applications for council homes – this would be for The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman or in some cases would need to be settled by the courts under specific legislation.  

This is because the Right to Buy concerns the disposal of land owned by local government, rather than the landlord/tenant relationship between the two parties to the sale. 

We can consider a complaint concerning voluntary Right to Buy schemes run by housing associations if we have evidence that the handling of the application has been raised and considered through the landlord’s complaint process.  

More information about which Ombudsman considers housing complaints can be found in our agreement with the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and New Homes Ombudsman. These agreements are known as a Memorandum of Understanding.  

Memorandum of Understanding signed with the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman

The Housing Ombudsman Service does not offer advice on applying to own all or part of your home.  

There is a wide range of schemes on offer for residents that want to apply to own all or part of their home such as Right to Buy, Right to Acquire, leasehold purchase, shared ownership staircasing provisions, equity loans and mortgage rescue schemes. Not all schemes are available for every resident, or in relation to every property, and there are often specific requirements which must be met before you can progress an application for home ownership. 

If you are interested in exploring the options available for owning your home, you should: 

• consult your tenancy agreement to check whether you might be eligible for any home ownership schemes 
• contact your landlord in the first instance and ask it to send you any relevant information and guidance 
• ask your local authority to provide you with information about available schemes in your locality 
• seek advice from: 
  • Government guidance – Find out if you’re eligible for Right to Buy – Own Your Home – Own Your Home
  • Citizens Advice – Buying a home – Citizens Advice
  • Leasehold Advisory Service – Home – The Leasehold Advisory Service (lease-advice.org) 

Before you consider a home ownership scheme, you should make sure that you are fully aware of your rights and obligations as a homeowner and those of the landlord. You should seek your own legal advice and carefully consider the documentation.

Often, you will have greater responsibility for repairing and maintaining the property, and there may be added unforeseen charges. 

The Housing Ombudsman Service was set up by law to investigate complaints between social housing residents and landlords about housing management – for example repairs and housing support.  

Social housing landlords must register as a member to our Scheme.  

We can consider complaints from: 

• a person who has an agreement to occupy a residential premise owned or managed by a landlord who is a member of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme – this could be a lease, tenancy, license to occupy, service agreement  
• an applicant for a property owned or managed by a member 
• a person who had an agreement or an application with a member at the time the complaint issue arised (for example, someone who has now moved out of a property but made a complaint whilst living there) 
• leaseholders and shared owners