Sanctuary Housing Association (202336906)

Background

1. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord. The property has an conservatory which is connected to the kitchen. The resident complained about the landlord’s handling of water ingress through the roof and mould on the ceiling.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about how the landlord responded to the resident’s reports about the condition of the conservatory roof.
3. We have also investigated the landlord’s complaint handling.

Our decision (determination)

4. We found that the landlord:
   1. Offered redress that was reasonable to resolve the resident’s reports about the condition of the conservatory roof.
   2. Offered redress that was reasonable to resolve its complaint handling failings.

We have not made orders for the landlord to put things right.

Summary of reasons 

Handling of reports about the condition of the conservatory roof

5. There were delays by the landlord to complete the repair, as well as poor communication with the resident. The landlord has now conducted repairs that resolved the water ingress through the kitchen and conservatory roof and offered redress which was reasonable to resolve the failings identified.

Complaint handling

6. There were delays by the landlord in responding to the complaint. It acknowledged the delays and offered compensation which was reasonable to remedy the complaint.

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.

Recommendations

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

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

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.

What we did not investigate

7. The resident told us that her outstanding concerns were about extreme temperatures in the conservatory and kitchen area. She raised a complaint about this issue in 2022 and the landlord issued its final complaint response on 2 November 2022. It said it would engage an external specialist to provide an Energy Performance Certificate before it made a decision on the best course of action to rectify the issue. It is unclear whether it took this action. The Ombudsman may not consider complaints which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, were brought to the Ombudsman’s attention more than 12 months after they exhausted the landlord’s complaints procedure. The resident referred her complaint to the Ombudsman on 19 January 2024, which was more than 12 months after the landlord’s stage 2 response. As such, we are unable to consider this complaint.
8. It is noted that, after the landlord issued its stage 2 response on 5 August 2023, the resident raised concerns about extreme temperatures again and requested a discussion about the issue. The landlord discussed this internally and noted that the matter had already been dealt with however, there is no evidence that it further responded to the resident’s concerns. Although we are unable to investigate the complaint about the landlord’s response to her reports of extreme temperatures, we have made a recommendation for it to contact her about the action it said it would take in its November 2022 stage 2 response. The resident also has the option of raising a new complaint about the landlord’s handling of this matter, which she may be able to refer to the Ombudsman once it has progressed through the complaints process.
9. We recognise that dampness and water ingress in the conservatory and kitchen had been a recurring issue since 2019. However, the scope of our investigation will consider from December 2022 onwards. This is because the resident raised a prior complaint about water ingress, which the landlord responded to at stage 2 on 16 June 2022. The resident did not raise a further report of water ingress until 30 December 2022.

What we did investigate

10. The landlord did not respond to the resident’s 30 December 2022 email in which she reported water ingress. The resident raised the repair again on 16 January 2023 (via her MP) and 22 January 2023. Following this, the landlord arranged for contractors to attend on 14 February 2023 and 1 March 2023. There is no evidence that the landlord communicated with the resident about the outcome of these inspections or advised her what repairs it would undertake. Landlords should ensure that they clearly and regularly communicate with residents about outstanding repairs. However, the landlord’s communication with the resident was poor and she was required to chase it for a response in March and April 2023.
11. The landlord did not respond to the resident’s reports of water ingress in line with the timeframes set out in its repairs policy. The policy states it will respond to ‘appointed repairs’, which includes roof leaks, within 28 days. The landlord’s contractor completed the recommended works on 9 May 2023. This reflects a delay of at least 3 months outside of the 28-day timeframe for repairs. There is no evidence on which we could conclude that this delay was either reasonable or unavoidable.
12. It is possible that the delays were ongoing for significantly longer. In her 30 December 2022 complaint email, the resident stated that damage had been caused due to water ingress that she had reported over 2 years ago. She said that no works had been carried out to resolve the issue. It is unclear whether the landlord completed the works recommended in the March 2021 structural survey. However, as outlined above, the scope of our investigation does not extend this far back.
13. After the works were carried out on 9 May 2023, the resident raised concerns that the issues regarding the conservatory roof remained ongoing. The landlord arranged for a conservatory specialist to attend on 26 May 2023, as requested by the resident, which was an appropriate step. The contractor’s notes state that it carried out a full inspection and sealed required areas, and that no further repairs needs could be identified.
14. The resident had also reported mould in the conservatory however, there is no evidence that the landlord arranged a damp and mould inspection, despite offering to do so in June 2023. On 8 October 2025, the resident informed us that the works to the kitchen roof had helped to resolve the mould and that the landlord had installed a ventilation unit in the property during 2025. She said that mould was not currently an issue. As such, while there was a failing by the landlord to proactively inspect the mould, it appears that it has taken sufficient action to resolve the issue.
15. In its stage 2 response, dated 4 August 2023, the landlord concluded that there had been delays in resolving the repairs which caused time, trouble and inconvenience and had impacted the resident’s enjoyment of her home. It offered the resident £870 compensation to remedy its handling of the repairs, which took into account that the resident had raised water ingress intermittently over the previous 2 years. The resident experienced distress and inconvenience due to the ongoing issues in the property and incurred time and trouble in reporting these to the landlord. The amount of compensation offered was in line with our remedies guidance, which recommends amounts of between £600 and £1,000 for failures that had a significant impact on the resident. The amount was therefore sufficient to remedy the impact of the failings by the landlord, and we have found that the landlord offered redress that was reasonable to remedy the complaint.

16. The Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (the Code) 1 April 2022 required landlords to acknowledge a complaint within 5 days and respond to stage 1 and 2 complaints within 10 and 20 working days, respectively.
17. The resident raised a complaint on 30 December 2022, which the landlord did not acknowledge. This was a complaint handling failing by the landlord. The resident raised a further complaint on 24 April 2023, and the landlord acknowledged this the following day. It issued its stage 1 response on 6 June 2023, which was 19 days in excess of the 10-working day timeframe. The landlord appropriately acknowledged its stage 1 complaint handling failings and offered £100 compensation.
18. The resident expressed dissatisfaction with the complaint response on 12 June 2023, before formally asking the landlord to escalate her complaint on 10 July 2023. The landlord issued its stage 2 response on 4 August 2023, which was a minor delay following her request to escalate the complaint, and was not a failing. However, the landlord ought to have asked the resident if she wanted to escalate the complaint following her 12 June 2023 email.
19. The landlord’s compensation guidance states it will offer amounts of up to £150 for when there have been delays or difficulties in raising a complaint. The £100 compensation offered by the landlord was therefore in line with its policy and reasonable to remedy the complaint handling failings identified.

Learning

20. There were delays by the landlord to log the complaint and to regularly update the resident about the repairs, which could indicate the need for staff training.

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

21. The landlord did not provide comprehensive records of its handling of the repair issues prior to the resident’s complaint. While this would have allowed us to consider whether it had completed the repairs identified in March 2021, this did not impact our overall decision as the landlord provided sufficient records of its actions from December 2022 onwards.

Communication

22. The landlord’s communication with the resident was poor. It did not acknowledge her complaint or repairs report in December 2022 and she was required to chase the landlord before it took appropriate action.