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Sanctuary Housing Association (202437918)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202437918

Sanctuary Housing Association

3 June 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. This complaint is about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of outstanding repairs at the property, including damp and mould.

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant of a house owned by the landlord. The landlord is aware the resident’s children have asthma.
  2. On 16 July 2024, the resident complained to the landlord about outstanding repairs in her home and provided a comprehensive list of works. She also said damp and mould affected the property.
  3. The landlord responded at stage 1 on 30 July 2024. It stated it limited its investigation to repairs raised by the resident within the past 12 months. It identified repair requests concerning a roof tile, toilet, and ball valve. It recognised there was a delay repairing a broken roof tile and apologised. It confirmed it repaired the toilet and ball valve on 23 May 2024. It said it inspected the property in April 2023 and did not identify any damp. It noted since then, she had not made any further reports of damp and mould. To resolve the complaint, it arranged a surveyor to inspect the property and £75 compensation.
  4. The inspection took place on 15 August 2024 and the surveyor submitted a schedule of works for approval in September 2024. During remedial works in November 2024, contractors identified black mould in the kitchen when they removed the units.
  5. The resident escalated her complaint on 26 November 2024 as she felt the landlord had not dealt with her reports of damp and mould appropriately.
  6. The landlord issued its stage 2 complaint response on 27 January 2025. It recognised there were delays with repairs following the inspection agreed at stage 1 and its communication had been below the level it expected. It made an appointment for a surveyor to post-inspect the works that contractors had completed and identify any further repairs required. It promised it would track and monitor the repairs through to completion and provide regular updates. It offered the resident £970 compensation, inclusive of the £75 offered at stage 1.
  7. The resident referred the complaint to this Service. In May 2025, she told us that mould still affected her home and repairs remained outstanding. To resolve the complaint, she wants the landlord to remedy the damp and mould, complete the repairs, and pay additional compensation.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. The resident said the way the landlord managed the issues impacted the health of the household. The Ombudsman empathises with the resident. However, the courts are the most effective place for disputes about impact to health. This is largely because it can appoint independent medical experts to give evidence. They have a duty to the court to provide unbiased insights on the diagnosis, prognosis, and cause of any illness or injury. When disputes arise, the court can examine oral testimony. Therefore, concerns about the health impact of the issues are better dealt with via the court.
  2. We are aware that some repairs remain outstanding. This assessment focuses on the period of the resident’s initial complaint in July 2024, up to the landlord’s final complaint response of January 2025. It remains open to the resident to raise a further complaint if she is dissatisfied with the landlord’s handling of matters post-stage 2 of its complaints process.

Damp, mould, and repairs

  1. Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 places a statutory obligation on the landlord to keep the structure and exterior of the property in repair.
  2. Once on notice of a repair, the landlord must conduct the works it is responsible for within a reasonable period, in accordance with its obligations under the tenancy agreement and in law. The law does not specify what a reasonable amount of time is – this depends on the individual circumstances of the case.
  3. The landlord’s repair policy states it aims to complete all appointed repairs within 45 days and major repairs within 90 days. It sets out that despite best efforts, this is not always possible. Some repairs require specialist parts or specialist contractors. If these situations occur, it will keep residents informed of the progress of their repair.
  4. The Housing Ombudsman’s spotlight report on damp and mould states a landlord should have a zero-tolerance approach and must ensure its response to reports of the above are timely and reflect the urgency of the issue. The landlord evidenced that it self-assessed against our recommendations set out in our spotlight report. It also published a damp and mould policy in May 2024. We recognise the importance of having a defined procedure when addressing reports of damp and mould.
  5. The landlord’s damp, mould, and condensation policy states where it identifies mould following a resident’s first report, it will arrange a mould wash, and complete repairs (if necessary) in line with its repairs policy. If it diagnoses damp or mould again, it will arrange for another mould wash and a surveyor to inspect the property and decide the next steps. It will keep the resident informed throughout, particularly as it may need to visit the property more than once to get to the root of the problem. It states it is not always easy to work out what is causing damp or mould before it can tailor the best solution.
  6. Where a landlord admits failings, our role is to assess whether the redress offered put things right and resolved the resident’s complaint satisfactorily in the circumstances. In investigating this, we consider whether the landlord’s offer of redress was in line with the Ombudsman’s Dispute Resolution Principles: be fair, put things right, and learn from outcomes.
  7. Following the resident’s submission of an extensive list of repairs with her complaint in July 2024, the landlord explained that it could not find any evidence to suggest she had requested the repairs within the past 12 months, excluding the roof tile, toilet, ball value, and damp and mould. This is in line with our Scheme in which we reasonably expect a resident to bring a complaint to a landlord within 12 months of the matter arising. Therefore, it was appropriate for the landlord to limit its focus to the issues described above and arrange for a surveyor to inspect the property and capture all outstanding necessary repairs.
  8. Neither party disputes that there were delays and poor communication throughout the landlord’s handling of the issues. Within its final complaint response, it offered £970 compensation comprising the following:
    1. £300 for the resident’s time, trouble, and inconvenience due to the impact of the repair delays, poor communication, and personal circumstances.
    2. £150 for its complaint handling shortcomings.
    3. £10 for a missed appointment.
    4. £410 to recognise the loss of enjoyment of multiple rooms within the property.
    5. £100 to reflect future delays completing the repairs up to the end of March 2025.
  9. As the resident told this Service she was satisfied with the above financial redress (up to March 2025) and there is no dispute over the events or shortcomings identified, we find it is not necessary to repeat them within this determination.
  10. Our remedies guidance suggests that awards between £600 and £1000 are appropriate for failings were there has been a significant impact on the resident. However, we are concerned that some of the repairs initially brought to the landlord’s attention in July 2024 remain outstanding more than 4 months after the stage 2 complaint response. We also recognise the resident was worried about the health impact of the mould. Furthermore, she is still unclear about the next steps to remedy the issues, despite the landlord undertaking a further survey in early May 2025. This is indicative of a failure to put things right and learn from outcomes. As such, while the landlord offered sizable redress, we cannot determine that it resolved the complaint satisfactorily in the circumstances.
  11. After considering the impact on the resident and the period involved, the Ombudsman finds that the amount offered in compensation is significant. Clarification about the remedial works remains outstanding. Thus, the required resolution at this stage is not more monetary compensation. We, therefore, have not ordered further compensation but specific action.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was service failure in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of outstanding repairs at the property, including damp and mould.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks of the date of this report, we order the landlord to:
    1. Pay the resident the £970 it offered within its final complaint response (if it has not already done so).
    2. Write to the resident following the survey it undertook in May 2025 and set out an action plan to remedy the issues. It must provide estimated completion dates for each repair and use its best endeavours to adhere to these timescales.
    3. Provide a single point of contact to give fortnightly updates to the resident in the format she chooses – email, telephone, or letter.

Recommendations

  1. We recommend the landlord should consider whether any additional compensation is due to the resident for any further delays resolving the issues from the end of March 2025. We recognise it may decide to open another complaint instead to assess this in more detail.
  2. We recommend the landlord contact the resident about her concern regarding loose asbestos in the property and the impact this may have on the repairs.