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Sanctuary Housing Association (202344107)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202344107

Sanctuary Housing Association

8 September 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 handling of the resident’s request to repair or replace her windows and doors.

Background

  1. The resident lives in a 1-bedroom bungalow and holds an assured tenancy with the landlord, a housing association. The resident provided authority for a representative to deal with her contact with the landlord and the Ombudsman. For the purposes of this report any reference to ‘the resident’ can either mean the representative or the resident herself.
  2. In March 2023 the resident reported she had issues with her windows and doors. On 29 May 2023 the resident raised a formal complaint, and the landlord issued a stage 1 complaint response on 13 June 2023. A further stage 1 complaint response was issued on 11 July 2023 after the landlord reviewed its complaint handling. Within the second stage 1 complaint response the landlord said that the door and windows had been inspected and could be repaired or refurbished.
  3. On 6 November 2023 the resident expressed her dissatisfaction at the landlord’s handling of the repairs. The landlord registered this as a new formal complaint and issued a third stage 1 complaint response on 17 November 2023, the complaint was upheld. This complaint was escalated on 9 February 2024, and a stage 2 complaint response was sent on 25 February 2024. The landlord said:
    1. there had been a lack of communication
    2. there was confusion over whether it would replace the windows and doors
    3. the complaint was upheld, and it offered £250 compensation broken down as:
      1. £200 due to the distress and inconvenience caused
      2. £50 for the poor communication
  4. The resident referred her complaint to us on 4 March 2024. To resolve the complaint she wanted the landlord to replace her windows and doors.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. We understand the resident complained to the landlord about her window and doors, and the landlord responded to this complaint in November 2022. Our investigation has focussed on the period from March 2023 which was dealt with in the landlord’s most recent complaint responses. This is because we expect residents to refer a complaint to us within 12 months of the landlord’s final complaint response.
  2. We have decided to look at the landlord’s actions after the stage 2 complaint response sent on 9 February 2024, up to 28 November 2024. We are doing this because the landlord had the opportunity to review its own service. However, it told the resident that all options had been exhausted, and the matter should be escalated to the Ombudsman.

Windows and door

  1. On 1 March 2023 the resident contacted the landlord to say that there were still issues with her windows and doors. There is no evidence to show the landlord contacted the resident about this report until 12 April 2023 when it raised a repair for the skylight window frame. This is outside of its repair policy timescale of 28 days. The time taken to raise a repair was unreasonable and caused the resident some inconvenience.
  2. The repair for the skylight as booked for 13 June 2023 and was due to be attended to by the regional manager. However, the resident contacted the landlord on 26 May 2023 to cancel the appointment. On 8 June 2023 the landlord completed a repair to the resident’s front door. These jobs were booked or attended to outside of its 28-day repair policy timescale. This increased the inconvenience caused to the resident.
  3. The resident requested a meeting with the landlord to discuss the window and doors. She was concerned that there was water ingress in a front window and her front door was rattling. She was unhappy that the landlord had visited several times without resolving the issue. The landlord issued 2 stage 1 complaint responses dated 13 June and 11 July 2023. In the second stage 1 complaint response the landlord said:
    1. the window and doors had been inspected previously and were fit for purpose – they could be repaired or refurbished
    2. an inspection was due on 3 August 2023, and it would await the details – if replacements were recommended it would take this step
    3. it would offer £150 for the time taken to deal with previous issues
  4. Despite committing to an inspection on 3 August 2023 there is no evidence to say this happened. Nor is there any evidence to show that the landlord updated or contacted the resident to explain the reasons why. This was unreasonable and not in line with its repair policy of using proactive communication for all repairs. This increased the distress and inconvenience felt by the resident.
  5. A new repair was raised on 14 September 2023 about water ingress, draughts and hard to close windows. This was attended to on 30 September 2023. The operative noted he was told the windows had previously been measured and a ‘pro-forma’ submitted for replacements. The repair log shows that the windows had been adjusted several times and there were still issues. Despite this a new job was raised on 6 October 2023 to take photos, measurements, and to submit a new pro-forma for replacement windows.
  6. The actions of the landlord in September and October 2023 did not align with its repair policy which says, “Where there are serious or persistent repair issues, the record of ‘repair history’ must be consulted so as to assist with diagnosis and also to avoid wasted effort through unnecessarily repeated inspections by the Surveyor”.
  7. There is no evidence to show that the landlord looked at the long history of persistent repairs reported by the resident related to the windows. The failure to consider the history of window repairs at the property meant the resident was left waiting for an unnecessary inspection. Even if the inspection was required, there is no evidence to show that the reasons for this were clearly explained to the resident.
  8. The communication we have seen indicates the landlord failed to manage expectations. It had previously told the resident the windows would not be replaced, but in its stage 1 complaint responses dated 11 July 2023 and 17 November 2023 it said that appointments were booked for ‘measurements to be taken’.
  9. This failure to follow its repair policy and poor communication caused the resident unnecessary distress and inconvenience at what was already a distressing time.
  10. On 29 November 2023 the landlord submitted a request for the windows to be replaced. Two days later on 1 December 2023 the landlord’s Trade Supervisor confirmed that as repairs could be undertaken it would not approve replacement of the windows. The resident was notified of this on 7 December 2023, with a new appointment to assess the windows for repairs booked for 18 December 2023.
  11. This meant the resident was left in the same position she was in after reporting the repair on 14 September 2023. This was outside of the landlords 28-day repair timescale and caused significant distress and inconvenience to the resident.
  12. The windows were assessed on 18 December 2023 and all repairs, including adjustments to the doors, were completed on 7 February 2024. This again fell outside of the landlord’s 28-day repair timescale and increased the frustration and inconvenience felt by the resident.
  13. The landlord’s poor communication and expectation management continued between February and November 2024. The evidence shows that the landlord visited the resident in March and April 2024 to address the window and door issue. However, it took until July 2024 for the landlord to confirm to the resident that no further action would be taken in relation to the door and windows. The time taken to provide this information to the resident was unreasonable and did not align with its commitment to proactive communication.
  14. It is important to note that we do not have the technical expertise to say if the resident’s windows or doors needed to be replaced. The landlord is entitled to rely on advice given by a suitably qualified person, even if the resident disagrees with that advice. However, when taking all the circumstances into account the Ombudsman considers there was maladministration in relation to the landlord’s handling of the request to repair or replace the resident’s windows and doors.
  15. The Ombudsman recently published learning in relation to window related complaints. This was published after the date of the stage 2 complaint response, but there are some key lessons that would have helped the landlord deal with the resident’s repair more proactively. Two core lessons set out in this learning are for the landlord to:
    1. conduct thorough risk assessments based on individual household circumstances, ensuring appropriate actions are recognised, responded to, and documented
    2. engage independent surveyors and ensure that responses to their recommendations are reasonable, clear, and consistent
  16. In this case, the landlord has not shown that it considered whether the resident had any vulnerabilities. The resident has told us that she has a medical condition that can become worse when it is cold. If the landlord had conducted a risk assessment it may have identified specific needs of the resident that could have had an influence on its decision making.
  17. Similarly given the persistent nature of the repairs, it may have been beneficial to engage an independent surveyor to assess the condition of the property. And following this for its communication with the resident to be clear and consistent, to avoid raising expectations of replacements.
  18. Moving forward, the landlord may want to consider reviewing its offer of training to staff who deal with window repairs to ensure that resident’s individual circumstances are considered.
  19. When considering a remedy for this complaint, we understand the landlord offered £150 in its second stage 1 complaint and £200 in its stage 2 complaint response to recognise the inconvenience caused to the resident. The landlord’s compensation policy says that where there has been a high impact on the resident a payment of between £151 and £400 may be considered.
  20. Our remedies guidance says that where there has been a failure that adversely affected the resident a payment of between £100 to £600 may be considered. Taking all the circumstances into account, we consider a payment of £500 is fair to recognise the impact of the landlord’s failings.
  21. The £500 is on top of the £350 already offered. The reason for the increase is that there were failings in the landlord’s communication between February and November 2024 that were not recognised in the stage 2 complaint response. And there is no evidence to show that the landlord considered the resident’s individual circumstances, such as whether she had any vulnerabilities when deciding on an approach.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s request

Orders and recommendations

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks of the date of this report the landlord is ordered to:
    1. write an apology to the resident and send a copy of this to us
    2. pay the resident compensation of £500 in addition to the £350 already offered for the distress and inconvenience caused
    3. write to the resident and her representative to provide a schedule of work for repairs that were recommended following a structural survey that was completed in July 2025 – work was due to commence on 1 September 2025 and included work to the window and doors

Recommendations

  1. It is recommended the landlord consider reviewing its offer of training to staff dealing with window complaints. It may want to review our centre for learning which has a section on window related complaints and the expectations for landlords. https://www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk/centre-for-learning/key-topics/windows/