Council failed to consider "best value" in property demolition plan: LGO

The Local Government Ombudsman has criticised a local authority over its decision to demolish a structurally unsound property and sell the site.

Following an investigation, the LGO, Dr Jane Martin, concluded that Norwich City Council had failed to consider "best value".

The complainant in the case owned the adjoining property, which he bought for his daughter to live in when she was at university in the city.

Concerned about the potential impact of the proposed demolition, he hired a solicitor, negotiated with the council and put in an offer to buy the site.

However, after checking with the council's solicitor, Norwich subsequently decided it could not proceed with the demolition as it would be unable to demonstrate “best value”. The council subsequently decided to sell the property as it stood at auction.

The complainant argued that Norwich's original decision to demolish the property had been flawed and the way it dealt with the matter was unreasonable. He had incurred solicitors' and survey fees of around £6,000.

Dr Martin concluded that when the local authority decided to approve the demolition of the property and sell the site, it did not give proper consideration to whether this would demonstrate best value.

The Ombudsman admitted that she could not be certain that, if Norwich had reached its decision properly, the complainant would have avoided all of his costs.

However, Dr Martin said: “It seems to me that the key reason that he incurred the costs that he did was the concern that stemmed from the council advising him it would be demolishing the adjoining property.”

The Ombudsman nevertheless accepted that the complainant had to accept some responsibility for the risks associated with property ownership.

The LGO recommended that Norwich pay the complainant £3,000 – representing half of the professional fees he incurred – as well as £1,000 for his time and trouble in pursuing the complaint.