Saxon Weald (202427040)

Decision
Case ID	202427040
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	Saxon Weald
Landlord type	Housing Association
Occupancy	Assured Tenancy
Date	9 October 2025

Background

The resident lives in a 3-bedroom semi-detached house with her 2 children. She moved there from another property rented from the same landlord. Her son has dyspraxia, and she is a survivor of domestic abuse. She said the landlord did not handle her reports of antisocial behaviour (ASB) properly at her previous home and failed to keep accurate records. When she moved into her current property, she raised concerns about its condition and the outstanding repairs.

What the complaint is about

The complaint is about:
1. the handling of the resident’s ASB reports
2. the condition of the property when the resident moved in, and the associated repairs
3. the handling of the resident’s complaint

Our decision (determination)

There was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of:
1. the resident’s ASB reports
2. the condition of the property when the resident moved in, and the associated repairs
There was no maladministration in the landlord’s complaint handling.

We have made orders for the landlord to put things right.

Summary of reasons

ASB reports

No records were kept of ASB or domestic abuse reports made by the resident after July 2023.
The landlord did not offer suitable compensation for the impact caused.

Condition of the property and repairs

The time taken to complete a full inspection of the property and complete repairs was outside of its Repair Policy timescales.
The compensation offered was not suitable for the impact caused.

Complaint handling

The landlord responded within its policy timescales or otherwise explained why a response would take longer.

Putting things right

Where we find service failure, maladministration, or severe maladministration we can make orders for the landlord to put things right. We have the discretion to make recommendations in all other cases within our jurisdiction.

Orders

Landlords must comply with our orders in the manner and timescales we specify. The landlord must provide documentary evidence of compliance with our orders by the due date set.

Order	What the landlord must do	Due date
1	Apology order The landlord must apologise in writing to the resident for the failures identified in this report. The landlord must ensure: The apology is provided by a person responsible for housing or complaints. The apology is specific to the failures identified in this decision, meaningful and empathetic. It has due regard to our apologies guidance.	No later than 10 November 2025
2	Compensation order The landlord must pay the resident £800 made up as follows: £500 for the impact caused to the resident for its failure relating to its lettable standards and associated repairs £300 for the impact caused to the resident in its failure to handle reports of ASB and domestic abuse This must be paid directly to the resident by the due date. The landlord must provide documentary evidence of payment by the due date. The landlord may deduct from the total figure any payments it has already paid.	No later than 10 November 2025
3	Inspection Order We have made an inspection order because the resident disputes all outstanding repairs have been completed. What the landlord must do The landlord must contact the resident to arrange an inspection. The landlord must take all reasonable steps to ensure the inspection is completed by the due date. A suitably qualified person must complete the inspection. If the landlord cannot gain access to complete the inspection, it must provide us with documentary evidence of its attempts to inspect the property no later than the due date.	No later than 10 November 2025
4	Further Order Following the inspection, the landlord must provide a copy of the inspection report to the us and the resident. The landlord must provide the resident with an action plan that sets out: what repairs it will complete following the inspection and an estimated timescale for completion what repairs it will not complete following the inspection and why a point of contact for the resident to manage any outstanding repairs a communication plan that sets out how often the landlord will contact the resident to provide an update on any outstanding repairs	No later than 24 November 2025

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
24 June 2024	The resident called the landlord to make a formal complaint. She said the landlord had let her down while she lived at her previous home. Her neighbours were allowed to report ASB against her, even though she was not living there at the time. She had experienced domestic abuse, but the landlord did not offer her any support. After a managed move in May 2024, she was placed in a new property, but it was not ready to live in. There were several issues inside the house and in the garden. She asked the landlord to clear and secure the garden and complete all necessary repairs inside the home.
27 June 2024	The landlord called the resident to discuss her complaint and confirm the issues she wanted to raise. The resident asked why her neighbour was not held accountable for making false ASB reports, when the landlord knew the claims were untrue. She also gave the landlord a list of repairs needed at her home.
28 June 2024	The landlord acknowledged the complaint at stage 1 of its complaints process. It said it would respond by 10 July 2024. On the same day, the landlord arranged a visit to the resident’s home for 4 July 2024 to inspect the outstanding repairs.
8 July 2024	The landlord asked for more time to respond to the resident’s complaint as it was still investigating the issues raised. It said it would respond by 24 July 2024.
25 July 2024	The landlord sent its stage 1 complaint response. It said a previous staff member had failed to record their conversations with the resident about ASB and domestic abuse. It found there was not enough evidence to take formal action against her neighbour. It said the managed move was a fair decision because the neighbour dispute could not be resolved. After visiting on 4 July 2024, it instructed its teams to carry out the repairs. It apologised for the poor condition of the new home and for the administrative failures in handling the domestic abuse reports. It offered £50 compensation to acknowledge this.
18 September 2024	The resident escalated her complaint. She believed the landlord had not done enough to resolve the neighbour dispute or properly investigate the ASB case. She did not accept the resolution offered for the missing records. Her son had dyspraxia, and the garden was not suitable at the start of the tenancy. For example, the paving was uneven.
24 to 25 September 2024	The landlord called the resident to discuss the escalation and sent a complaint acknowledgement. It asked her to provide a list of repairs she wanted it to investigate, the dates she made the ASB and domestic abuse reports, and what outcome she was seeking.
27 September 2024	The resident gave the landlord the information it requested. She said between August 2023 and March 2024, none of her domestic abuse reports had been recorded, even though staff visited her several times. She also said that between January and February 2024, her former neighbour made ASB reports against her while she was living elsewhere. She felt the landlord had failed to investigate the neighbour’s actions and the false reports. She also said there were several outstanding repairs in the kitchen, lounge, hallway, landing, both bedrooms, and the garden.
11 October 2024	The landlord visited the resident’s home to inspect the repairs listed in her email. It identified which repairs it would carry out and which it would not.
16 October 2024	The landlord sent its stage 2 complaint response. It said it had correctly identified the ASB reports as a neighbour dispute and had followed the correct process. It had not considered the reports made against the resident while she was living away from the old property. It recognised that its record keeping needed improvement and said it would review its processes. It agreed to complete the repairs identified during the visit by the end of October 2024. It also apologised.
16 October 2024	The resident referred her case to us because she was unhappy with the landlord’s response. She said the landlord had not acknowledged the impact on her and she felt ignored. To resolve the complaint, she wants the landlord to provide suitable compensation and complete the outstanding repairs at her home.

What we found and why

The circumstances of this complaint are well known by the parties involved, so it is not necessary to detail everything that’s happened or comment on all the information we’ve reviewed. We’ve only included the key information that forms the basis of our decision of whether the landlord is responsible for maladministration.

Complaint	The handling of the ASB reports
Finding	Maladministration

What we have not looked at

The resident’s complaint relates to how the landlord handled her ASB reports, the reports made against her, and its record keeping. She said these issues go back several years. To ensure fairness to both parties, we focused on the 12 months before the formal complaint. While we considered the history for context, our assessment covers the period from June 2023 onwards.

Handling of ASB

Between June and July 2023, the resident contacted the landlord 4 times about issues with her neighbour. The landlord responded within its ASB policy timescales of 3 to 5 working days, depending on the severity of each report. The landlord also ensured that the resident was given the opportunity to respond to allegations made against them by the neighbour. For example, on 9 June 2023 the landlord visited the resident to discuss an altercation. The landlord recorded the resident’s view of events and gave words of advice on how to deal with a similar situation in the future. This aligned with its policy on ASB and neighbour disputes which says that incidents will be discussed with all parties.
It was also at this visit that the landlord decided a management move was the best way to resolve the neighbour dispute. It explained to the resident there was a lack of evidence to enable it to take any formal action, and the types of reports (such as a fence being taken down) did not meet its threshold for ASB. It decided a management move would enable the resident to start afresh, and the resident agreed. This shows a proactive approach to managing the neighbour dispute having already tried methods such as its offer of mediation in April 2023. The landlord followed its ASB policy which allows this step when a resident is unsafe in their home.
After July 2023, there were no records of ASB or domestic abuse, despite the resident saying she had discussed these issues with the landlord many times. The landlord accepted failures in its record keeping. It said that the reason records were not kept were because the previous staff member dealing with the matter had left the business. While we understand that staff can leave a business it is important to keep robust records and log each contact in a way that can be shared and accessed when needed. Without proper records, the landlord could not show it had handled the further ASB and domestic abuse reports in line with its policy, which requires regular communication and accurate documentation.
The landlord offered £25 in compensation to acknowledge the inconvenience this caused to the resident. This offer did not reflect the significant impact on the resident, who experienced unnecessary distress, including having to repeat her reports of domestic abuse and relive these experiences. The resident has told us this left her feeling unsupported by the landlord at a vulnerable time, which the landlord failed to recognise as part of its offer to resolve the complaint. Our remedies guidance says compensation between £100 and £600 is appropriate where maladministration has adversely affected a resident. We have ordered the landlord to pay compensation of £300. This accounts for the impact to the resident, but that this impact has now ended after her move to a new property.

Complaint	The condition of the property when moving in, and associated repairs
Finding	Maladministration

The landlord did not meet its Lettable Standards Policy. After inspecting the property in October 2024, it identified 5 internal repairs that should have been completed before the resident moved in. The garden was also overgrown, which went against the policy requiring gardens to be cleared and cut back for new tenants. These issues caused the resident distress and inconvenience.
In July 2024, the resident reported several repairs, but the landlord did not carry out a full inspection until October 2024 which was outside its Repairs Policy timescale of 28 days. Although the landlord said all repairs would be completed by the end of October 2024, a repair to an uneven patio remained outstanding until June 2025. This delay had a greater impact because the resident’s child has dyspraxia, a factor the landlord was aware of but did not consider, which went against its policy to take vulnerabilities into account when handling repairs.
The landlord has told us that all repairs are now complete, but this is disputed by the resident. The landlord has not provided clear records showing which repairs were raised or completed after October 2024. The landlord’s policy requires it to record completed jobs, but without this evidence, it cannot confirm that repairs were properly handled. This increased the resident’s distress.
Our recent spotlight report from May 2025 ‘Repairing Trust’, talks about the importance of considering a resident’s individual circumstances when dealing with repairs. What may seem like a non-urgent repair can require more swift action due to a greater impact on a resident. In this case the resident moved from her previous property as the landlord believed this was the best option to give her a fresh start. The ability to start afresh was hampered by the actions of the landlord for around 5 months.
While the landlord offered £25 compensation, this did not reflect the level of distress caused by the time taken between the resident’s initial report and the full inspection. Nor did this amount consider the failure to complete the repair to the patio for more than 8 months. The failure to complete the patio repair had a significant impact on the resident’s ability to enjoy her home. She was left feeling like she could not let her son use the garden safely. This added to the resident’s feeling she was let down by the landlord even after her move. We have ordered the landlord to pay £500 to recognise this impact which is in line with our remedies guidance.

Complaint	The handling of the complaint
Finding	No maladministration

The landlord handled the complaint reasonably. At stage 1 of its complaint process the landlord responded after 19 working days. It explained the reasons for any delay. This followed its Complaint policy which says that where a response takes longer than 10 working days it will write to the resident to explain why.
It dealt with the resident’s stage 2 complaint within its policy timescales. It addressed each point raised by the resident and offered a resolution where it accepted it fell short.

Learning

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

The landlord acted positively following the resident’s complaint. It took learning from the failures in its record keeping. It put in place a new process to ensure record keeping was improved. This included clear templates to complete when investigating ASB. The templates are now in use, which is positive.