Kensington and Chelsea Council sets bailiffs on man over property it owns

The west London council compensated the man and apologised

A council has paid compensation after it set bailiffs on a man demanding unpaid council tax - despite him having sold the property to the local authority three years earlier.

Kensington and Chelsea Council has since apologised, paid the man £200 and accepted it should have updated its council tax department.

The matter came to light after the man, named as Mr B, raised a complaint with the Housing Ombudsman.

He said it had caused him distress.

In its decision, the ombudsman's stated Mr B had owned the leasehold on the property, which he paid council tax on but sold to the council in 2020.

Despite the sale, in 2023 bailiffs contacted him chasing the "outstanding" council tax.

'Satisfactory remedy'

Chelsea and Kensington Council cancelled the attempted recovery of the debt after Mr B informed the authority of the issue, although it refused to pay compensation, saying he had not told the council the property had been sold - despite the fact the council was the buyer.

In its decision, the watchdog said that, following inquiries, the council acknowledged it had purchased the property in 2020 and accepted it should have passed that information on to its property and council tax team.

The ombudsman said the council's apology and payment of compensation, along with a promised review of the acquisitions and disposal process, was a "satisfactory remedy".

The authority was approached for further comment but directed the Local Democracy Reporting Service to the ombudsman's report.

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