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Sanctuary Housing Association (202419490)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202419490

Sanctuary Housing Association

15 August 2025

 

Our approach

The Housing Ombudsman’s approach to investigating and determining complaints is to decide what is fair in all the circumstances of the case. This is set out in the Housing Act 1996 and the Housing Ombudsman Scheme (the Scheme). The Ombudsman considers the evidence and looks to see if there has been any ‘maladministration,’ for example, whether the landlord has failed to keep to the law, followed proper procedure, followed good practice, or behaved in a reasonable and competent manner.

Both the resident and the landlord have submitted information to the Ombudsman, and this has been carefully considered. Their accounts of what has happened are summarised below. This report is not an exhaustive description of all the events that have occurred in relation to this case, but an outline of the key issues as a background to the investigation’s findings.

The complaint

  1. The complaint is about the landlord’s management of:
    1. the resident’s reports of repairs and requests for compensation.
    2. the resident’s complaints.

Jurisdiction

  1. What we can and cannot consider is called the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction. This is governed by the Housing Ombudsman Scheme. When a complaint is brought to the Ombudsman, we must consider all the circumstances of the case as there are sometimes reasons why a complaint will not be investigated.
  2. Part of the resident’s complaint concerns the landlord’s handling of the resident’s queries concerning his service charges amounts.
  3. Paragraph 42(d) of the Housing Ombudsman’s Scheme states “the Ombudsman may not consider complaints which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion concern the level of rent or service charge or the amount of the rent or service charge increase”. The resident may wish to refer this aspect of his complaint to the First Tier Tribunal.

Background and summary of events

  1. The resident is an assured tenant of Sanctuary Housing Association. His tenancy began on 20 February 2006. The property is a one bedroom flat, which is served by a communal boiler supplying heating to 40 flats.
  2. Of note in this case there were 3 complaints. For ease of reference, we will refer to Complaint A, Complaint B and Complaint C.
  3. The resident submitted a stage 1 complaint on 6 May 2024 (complaint A). He said:
    1. despite reporting a heating and tap repair, he had heard nothing from the landlord.
    2. the landlord had ignored his requests for repairs on dates that he said he was available and had instead offered a date “of no use to me.”
    3. he would like reimbursement for every week he had been waiting for the heating repair.
    4. he would like information about the increased service charge. He asked the landlord to justify the recent increase and explain how the landlord would use the service charge to improve services.
  4. The landlord acknowledged the stage 1 complaint by email on 9 May 2024.
  5. On 17 May 2024, the landlord issued its stage 1 response. It said:
    1. It had repaired the communal boiler December, and it was not aware that the resident’s heating was still not working. It raised a request to investigate the resident’s heating within his home.
    2. It had raised a job on 18 January 2024 about the bathroom sink hot water tap. It made an appointment for the repair of the tap on 7 February. It had to reschedule the appointment to 22 February 2024. It upheld this part of the resident’s complaint.
    3. The landlord had made appointments for the tap repair on 22 February, 15 April, and 8 May 2024 but it had not been able to access the property. It said it had notified the resident of the appointments by voicemail and email. It booked a new appointment for the tap repair for 6 June 2024.
    4. It offered a goodwill gesture of £25 for time, trouble, and inconvenience and £10 for the missed appointment on 7 February.
  6. The resident emailed the landlord on 17 May 2024 to escalate the complaint to stage 2. He said that he had not received voicemails about appointments. He asked again for the service charge information, which he said he had not received. He asked for a full breakdown on how the increased service charges are to be used to make improvements to repairs, and when residents could expect to see such improvements.
  7. The landlord accepted the escalation request on 23 May 2024.
  8. On 11 June 2024, the resident submitted a 2nd complaint (complaint B) in which he raised new matters. He said:
    1. the communal car park gate had been broken since August 2023.
    2. the communal lighting had been vandalised because the gate was not secure.
    3. he would like information about the increased service charge and how the landlord would use it to improve services.
    4. he wanted financial compensation for the service charges he had paid.
  9. On 14 June 2024, the landlord acknowledged complaint B by email. It raised a new stage 1 complaint.
  10. On 17 June 2024, the landlord emailed the resident. It said that it was unable to provide its stage 2 response (to complaint A) within the 20-day period in its policy. It apologised and said it would respond by 12 July 2024.
  11. The resident emailed the landlord on 17 June, 1 July, and 9 July 2024 to object to the delay in responding to his complaints. He submitted a 3rd complaint online on 13 July 2024 about the landlord’s complaint handling (complaint C).
  12. On 11 August 2024, the landlord sent the resident its stage 2 response. It responded to the matters raised in the resident’s complaints A, B and C. It said:
    1. it upheld his complaint about the heating repair, due to poor record keeping.
    2. it did not uphold his complaint about the bathroom tap repair. It noted his feedback about the repairs reporting system.
    3. it apologised for its complaints handling delays.
    4. it offered compensation for the lack of heating between 9 December 2023 and 30 April 2024. It said, “Our heating season runs between 1 October and 31 March, therefore I am unable to compensate you for any loss of heating after 30 April 2024 as per our policy.”
    5. it offered compensation of:
      1. £432 for loss of heating.
      2. £100 for time and trouble.
      3. £100 for complaint handling.
    6. it had previously responded to 2 complaints from the resident about the gate and had paid the resident a goodwill gesture of £75. It considered its actions since the closure of those complaints on 16 May 2024. It partially upheld the complaint.
    7. it had raised a repair order for the lights repair.
    8. it apologised for its complaints handling and acknowledged that it had not responded at stage 1 to the resident’s 2nd complaint (complaint B).
    9. it offered an additional goodwill gesture of:
      1. £400 for time, trouble, and inconvenience.
      2. £100 for complaint handling.
  13. The landlord’s total goodwill gesture offer was £1132.

Events that occurred after the internal complaint procedure had been exhausted

  1. The landlord repaired the resident’s heating on 22 August 2024. It completed repairs to the car park gate on 3rd February 2025.

Assessment and findings

Scope of the investigation

  1. The resident submitted 3 complaints to the landlord. This Service would normally only consider one complaint per investigation report, however in this case the resident’s complaints are linked. In the interest of fairness, this Service has considered all 3 of the complaints in this report. For clarity, they are referred to as complaint A, B and C.

The resident’s reports of repairs and requests for compensation

  1. The landlord’s Repairs Policy says it will:
    1. carry out responsive repairs promptly and in one visit, where possible.
    2. arrange appointments to inspect and carry out work at a time that is convenient to the individual resident.
  2. Its Repairs and Maintenance Procedure says:
    1. it aims to complete all appointed repairs within 45 days and at the appointment time originally agreed with the resident.
    2. if an appointment time is changed, it will contact the resident to agree an alternative appointment.
    3. It aims to complete all major repairs within 90 days.
    4. Where a resident fails to keep an appointment, a second appointment will be offered when the resident re-contacts the landlord.
    5. Where it is not possible to complete a repair on time, it would keep residents informed of progress and an update of an expected completion date.
  3. The landlord’s repairs booklet for residents says it would leave a contact card following a missed appointment. It states that a resident must contact it to reschedule the repair.
  4. The Residents Handbook sets out tenant responsibilities. This includes the requirement to give the landlord access so that contractors can undertake any essential repairs.

Heating repair

  1. This Service has not seen evidence of the date the resident first reported his heating repair. The resident’s stage 1 complaint on 6 May 2024 states that he told the landlord his heating needed repair when he contacted them about an increase in service charges. The date of this contact remains unclear.
  2. The landlord states that it carried out an emergency repair to the communal boiler to restore the heating on 7 December 2023. The boiler function was restored. On 9 December 2023, it required a further emergency repair which was carried out on the same day. The landlord’s records note that following the 2nd repair, it had not had further reports from any resident that the heating was not working.
  3. This Service has not seen evidence that the resident had notified the landlord of a lack of heating between 9 December 2023 and 6 May 2024.
  4. The resident’s tenancy agreement indicates that the boiler served 40 flats. Given the absence of complaints from the resident or other residents, it was reasonable for the landlord to consider that it had resolved the heating problem on 9 December 2023.
  5. There is no dispute that the resident notified the landlord on 6 May 2024 that his heating was not working. The landlord established it was not a problem with the communal boiler and raised an investigation on his heating within his home.
  6. The landlord has not been able to provide this Service with details of what it found had caused the problem with the resident’s heating. Nor has it been able to provide the dates of its repairs appointments, what took place or what was fixed. This was because of its poor record keeping.
  7. The landlord did not repair the heating within the resident’s property until 22 August 2024.This was 109 days after it received the resident’s stage 1 complaint. This is significantly outside its policy commitment to complete repairs within 45 days. There was an unreasonable delay in completing the repair. It caused the resident considerable time, trouble and inconvenience in the pursuance of the repair and could not but have compromised the full enjoyment of his home.

Bathroom tap repair

  1. The landlord arranged an appointment for the bathroom basin tap repair for 7 February 2024 but had to reschedule at short notice. It states that it attended appointments a further 3 times between 18 February and 8 May 2024 but could not access the property.
  2. The landlord’s records state that it left voicemails for the resident about the appointments for the tap on 4 occasions between 8 February and 17 May 2024. Its notes state that it sent the resident an email on 15 April 2024. Its notes also record that it had received an email confirmation from the resident that he would be available on 8 May 2024.
  3. The resident states that he did not receive voicemails and his communication preference was by email. This Service cannot comment on why the resident might not have received voicemails. However, the resident was aware of the landlord’s attempts to access the property to fix the tap. He stated in his stage 2 complaint on 17 May 2024 “a repairman turned up once as I was leaving for work, and I had to send him away as I had not been informed of him coming.”
  4. It is a requirement of the tenancy agreement that residents permit the landlord access for essential repairs. In denying the landlord access, the resident prevented the landlord from carrying out its legal obligations.
  5. It is reasonable for the landlord to expect the resident to make himself available for repair appointments with sufficient notice. The landlord made reasonable attempts to arrange the repair.
  6. The landlord raised a new works order on 17 May 2024. It repaired the tap on 6 June 2024. This was within the 45-day timeframe for repairs set out in its policy.

Communal gate and lighting

  1. The resident complained that the communal gate had been broken since 8 August 2023. Evidence from the landlord shows that it inspected the gate in June 2024 and confirmed it could open and close but required a specialist contractor for work to weld part of the gate.
  2. The gate was fully repaired on 3 February 2025. This was 229 days after the landlord had raised the works order.
  3. The landlord’s records indicate that the gate was operational through that time. It is unclear what adverse impact the damaged gate had on the residents, given the gate remained functional.
  4. The landlord said in its stage 2 response that it had raised an order on 29 July 2024 to repair the communal lights to the bin store. This was 49 days after the resident’s 2nd complaint of 11 June 2024. The landlord partially upheld the resident’s complaint and offered compensation. This was a reasonable response.

The resident’s requests for compensation

  1. The landlord’s Compensation Guidance states that it can consider compensation for:
    1. Time, trouble & inconvenience.
    2. Delayed or poor responses to customer complaints.
    3. Lack of or unreasonable delay to provision of services.
  2. It also states:
    1. “When considering offering compensation we will consider the following:
      1. The overall time, trouble and inconvenience suffered and whether this was reasonably foreseeable.
      2. Whether non-financial compensation has already been offered.
      3. Recognition of any failure to follow policies and procedures.”
  3. The guidance also states that it will pay compensation of £3 per day for total loss of heating, between 1 October and 30 April.
  4. In both its stage 1 and 2 responses, the landlord appropriately apologised for its service failure. It recognised the impact on the resident and took steps to put things right.
  5. The resident asked the landlord for information about how it was using the service charges to improve services. He objected to its policy of not paying compensation for loss of heating between 30 April and 1 October. He asked for an explanation. This Service has not seen evidence that the landlord provided the resident with a response to either of these points.
  6. This was information available to the landlord that it should have been able to share with the resident. There is no explanation in the evidence as to why it did not.
  7. The landlord’s offer of £432 compensation for loss of heating for 9 December 2023 to 30 April 2024 is consistent with its policy. It recognised that its poor record keeping led to uncertainty about whether the resident had heating for this period. It sought to put things right by offering the compensation for total loss of heating, despite its lack of awareness of the problem prior to 6 May 2024.
  8. It also offered £500 in recognition of the time and trouble the resident had expended in seeking resolution.
  9. Overall, this Service is satisfied that the acknowledgement, apology, and compensation offered by the landlord represents reasonable redress for its service failure in respect of this element of the resident’s complaint.

Complaint handling

  1. The landlord’s Complaints Policy states that it aims to respond to stage 1 complaints within 10 working days. At stage 2 of the process, it aims to respond to complaints within 20 working days. This is compliant with the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code.
  2. The policy also states:
    1. “There are times when complaint investigations are more complex or need a longer timeframe to provide a customer will (sic) a full response. If this is the case, Sanctuary may extend the timeframe to respond to a complaint at Stage 1 or Stage 2 by 10 working days. Sanctuary will contact the customer to discuss this and explain the reasons for the extension and confirm any extension to the above timescales in writing.”
  3. The resident submitted the first complaint (complaint A) online on 6 May 2024. The landlord responded at Stage 1 on 17 May 2024 and offered a goodwill gesture. The resident escalated the complaint to stage 2 on 17 May 2024.
  4. The landlord emailed the resident on 17 June 2024. It said it would not be able to respond to the stage 2 complaint within the 20-day period set out in its policy. It told the resident that it would contact him by 12 July 2024. This complied with its policy.
  5. The resident made a 2nd complaint on 11 June 2024 (complaint B) which the landlord acknowledged at stage 1 on 14 June. However, the landlord did not immediately progress to investigate this complaint. But it later contained its response in the stage 2 response. This was a failure in its initial complaints handling process.
  6. The resident sent the landlord 6 emails between 17 June and 24 July 2024. He said that he was unhappy with delays in handling his complaints. The resident submitted a 3rd complaint on 17 July 2024 (complaint C). It is evident that the resident expended effort trying to resolve his complaints and obtain the information he had requested.
  7. The volume and frequency of correspondence from the resident between 17 May 2024 and 24 July 2024 evidences his increasing frustration with the landlord. The delay in responding to his stage 2 complaint could not but have led to the resident losing confidence in the landlord’s complaints handling process.
  8. The landlord responded at stage 2 of its complaints process on 11 August 2024. This was 56 days after acknowledging the stage 2 complaint. It offered £200 compensation for its failures in complaints handling, in addition to the amounts for time and trouble and loss of heating detailed earlier in this report. The total compensation offered by the landlord was £1132.
  9. The compensation offered to the resident complies with the Ombudsman’s Remedies Guidance (published on our website), which sets out the Ombudsman’s approach to compensation. The compensation proportionately reflects the impact of the delay and time and trouble expended by the resident. It amounts to reasonable redress in this case.

Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with paragraph 53 (b) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord has made an offer of redress prior to investigation, which in the Ombudsman’s opinion, satisfactorily resolves:
    1. the resident’s reports of repairs and requests for compensation.
    2. the landlord’s complaints handling.

Orders and recommendations

Recommendations

  1. It is recommended that within 4 weeks of the date of this report, the landlord:
    1. pay the resident £1132 compensation, if it has not already done so. The Ombudsman’s finding of reasonable redress is based on the understanding that this compensation will be paid.
    2. update its Compensation Guidance to include an explanation of its policy with respect to seasonal payments for loss of heating.
    3. provide the resident with a response to his queries about how it uses the service charge to deliver or improve services.
    4. review its record keeping practice to ensure it is confident it is compliant with good practice.