Sanctuary Housing Association (202402777)

Decision
Case ID	202402777
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	Sanctuary Housing Association
Landlord type	Housing Association
Occupancy	Leaseholder
Date	16 October 2025

Background

1. The resident lives in a flat in a communal block. At the time of the complaint she had a young baby. She reported issues with the heating and hot water on 6 December 2023. Between this date and 19 January 2024, the resident was without heating and hot water for a total of 15 non-consecutive days. On 11 January 2024 she complained to the landlord. She was unhappy about the length of time it was taking to resolve the issues. The resident has told us that the heating and hot water issues are ongoing.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of:
   1. Heating and hot water issues at the property.
   2. The associated complaint.

Our decision (determination)

3. The landlord made an offer of redress which, in our opinion, resolved errors in its handling of the heating and hot water issues at the property.
4. There was service failure in the landlord’s complaint handling.

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

Summary of reasons

Heating and hot water issues at the property

5. The landlord’s acknowledged its failings, at stage 2 of the complaints process.  In our opinion its offer of compensation reflected the likely distress and inconvenience errors in its handling of the hot water and heating issues caused to the resident.
6. We have not seen evidence the resident reported any issues with the heating or hot water at the property between March 2024 and December 2024. It was therefore reasonable for the landlord to assume that the issues were resolved.

The associated complaint

7. The landlord did not respond to all parts of the complaint in its stage 1 or stage 2 response. This would have caused inconvenience for the resident as she did not receive answers to her concerns.

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 specific to the failures identified in this decision, meaningful and empathetic. It has due regard to our apologies guidance.	No later than 13 November 2025
2	Complaint order   The landlord must issue a stage 1 complaint response in writing regarding the issues which formed part of her original complaint. These were: The potential leak under her floorboards Her service charge	No later than   13 November 2025
3	Compensation order   The landlord must pay the £250 compensation it previously awarded to the resident if it has not done so already.	No later than   13 November 2025

 

 

 

Recommendations

Our recommendations are not binding, and a landlord may decide not to follow them.

Our recommendations
We recommend the landlord offers complaint handling refresher training to relevant staff if it has not done so already. The training should focus on recognising all parts of a resident’s complaint to ensure nothing is missed in its complaint response.

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
11 January 2024	The resident complained to the landlord. She said she had no heating or hot water, it was 0 degrees outside and she had a 1 year old baby. She said she had been told by a contractor that the heating and hot water issues at the property may be because of a leak under her flooring. She asked when this leak would be investigated. She asked if she would be receiving a reduction in her service charge as a result of the issues she had experienced.
19 January 2024	The landlord issued its stage 1 complaint response. It said it had found a failure in its service because the issues with the heating and hot water had been “misdiagnosed”. It confirmed the resident had been without heating and hot water for 15 days in total. It awarded £36 compensation which it said was calculated in line with its compensation policy for loss of heating and hot water.
12 February 2024	The resident escalated her complaint to stage 2 of the landlord’s complaints process. She said she was not happy with the level of compensation offered.
7 March 2024	The landlord issued its stage 2 response. It said its contractor had “failed to provide the appropriate level of service and “communication should have been better”. It raised its offer of compensation to £250.
Referral to the Ombudsman	The resident told us her desired outcome was more compensation to the reflect the “inconvenience, financial loss and suffering” she had encountered. She said the issues with the heating and hot water were ongoing and she wanted these to be resolved.

 

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 heating and hot water issues
Finding	Reasonable redress

8. The resident has informed us there are still issues with the heating and hot water at the property. This included issues that were identified after the landlord’s final response to this complaint. In line with our scheme, this investigation can only consider matters which the landlord has had the opportunity to investigate through its own internal complaints procedure which concluded in March 2024. The resident can make a separate complaint to the landlord about the more recent issues if she wants to. However, we recommend the landlord contacts the resident regarding this and responds to her concerns.
9. The resident’s tenancy agreement confirms the landlord is responsible for keeping the heating and hot water system in the property “in good working order”. The landlord’s repairs policy states it will attend “immediate” repairs within 24 hours, and “standard” repairs within 15 working days.
10. Each time the resident reported an issue with the heating in December 2023 and January 2024, the landlord attended to the heating within 24 hours. This was in line with its timescale for emergencies. This was reasonable. The landlord provided limited repair records. However, the resident said she contacted both the landlord and contractor to chase the repairs in December 2023 and January 2024. She provided an example of the contractor closing the case when the repair was not complete. This was a failing. There was a lack of communication between the landlord, contractor and resident. This would have caused the resident time, trouble and inconvenience.
11. In its stage 2 complaint response the landlord acknowledged that the issues had been “misdiagnosed” leading to delays. It said the communication “should have been better” and offered compensation in recognition of this. This was positive as it had reflected on the issue during its complaints process and attempted to put things right.
12. The resident said she was not offered temporary heaters during this period. The landlord disputed this and said she had been offered them and refused. We do not have any evidence regarding this. However, it is our understanding that when the resident corrected the landlord and said she did not have heaters, it provided them. This was another example of the landlord’s lack of communication, which it then attempted to put right.
13. We have considered whether the landlord’s offer of compensation for the inconvenience, distress, time and trouble encountered by the resident was appropriate. In doing so, we refer to our Remedies Guidance (published on our website), which sets out our approach to compensation. The landlord offered the resident £250 compensation for its errors in the handling of the heating and hot water issues. This offer is in line with our remedies guidance which states that in cases where there was a failure by the landlord which adversely affected the resident, but there may be no permanent impact, £100-£600 may be appropriate.
14. Therefore, the landlord does not need to do anything further in this regard, as its offer is in line with what the Ombudsman would have awarded had the landlord not already made an offer and it is appropriate redress for the landlord’s errors in this case. We have made an order for the landlord to pay the £250 compensation if it has not done so already. The finding of reasonable redress is made on the basis that this has been paid to the resident.

Complaint	The handling of the complaint
Finding	Service failure

15. The landlord has a 2-stage complaints process. It’s policy states it will acknowledge stage 1 and stage 2 complaints within 5 working days. The landlord will issue a full response within 10 working days for stage 1 complaints and within 20 working days for complaints at stage 2. These timescales align with the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (the Code) which sets out the Ombudsman’s expectations for landlords’ complaint handling practices.
16. The landlord issued its stage 1 and stage 2 complaint responses within its complaints policy timescales. However, there were other failings.
17. The resident said, in her original complaint, that a contractor had told her there was a “potential leak” under the floorboards which may be contributing to the heating and hot water issues at the property. The resident asked the landlord when this would be investigated. The landlord did not acknowledge this part of the complaint. This was a failing.
18. Additionally, the resident also asked, in her original complaint, whether a “reduction in her service charge” would be applied in recognition of the issues she had encountered. The Ombudsman is not able to consider the level of service charge charged by the landlord. The resident can find further information about the First Tier Tribunal service which considers disputes around service charges online at https://www.gov.uk/courts-tribunals/first-tier-tribunal-property-chamber.  
19. However, we can investigate how the landlord responded to the resident’s request for a comprehensive explanation of her service charge. The landlord did not answer the resident’s question regarding a service charge reduction within its complaints process. This was a further failing as it missed an opportunity to put things right for the resident.
20. The Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (‘the Code’)  states landlords are required to address all points raised in the complaint (section 5). The landlord’s stage 1 response did not include a response regarding the resident’s concern about the potential leak under the floorboards or her service charge. This error was also not recognised during stage 2 of the complaints process. This has led to delays in investigating this matter and additional inconvenience for the resident.
21. We have ordered the landlord to contact the resident regarding the unanswered issues from her original complaint. We also recommend the landlord offers refresher training to relevant complaint staff to ensure that all parts of a complaint are addressed during the complaints process.

Learning

22. The landlord provided limited evidence for this investigation and also sent us information not related to the case. There was a lack of information regarding the repairs it undertook and its communication with its contractor and the resident. The landlord should keep comprehensive records of residents’ reports of disrepair and their responses, including details of appointments, work carried out and completion dates.  
23. The landlord acknowledged, in its stage 2 response to the resident, that the communication “could have been better”. The landlord could think about how this could be improved in the future.