Sanctuary Housing Association (202348355)

Decision
Case ID	202348355
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	Sanctuary Housing Association
Landlord type	Housing Association
Occupancy	Assured Tenancy
Date	29 April 2026

Background

In July 2023 the resident told the landlord she was appealing her rent increase due to the condition of her property, which she said had been ongoing for years. The resident has a health condition which causes fatigue. The resident moved out of the property in November 2024.

What the complaint is about

The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s:
1. Concerns about the increase in rent and service charges.
2. Report of a rat infestation.
3. Service charge query.
4. Report of pigeons in a communal area.
5. Concerns about the fire alarm system.
6. Window repairs.
7. Associated complaint.

Our decision (determination)

The following complaints are outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction:
1. Concerns about the increase in rent and service charges.
2. Report of a rat infestation.
There was reasonable redress by the landlord’s handling of the resident’s:
1. Service charge query.
2. Associated complaint.
There was service failure by the landlord’s handling of the resident’s:
1. Reports of pigeons in a communal area.
2. Window repairs.
There was maladministration by the landlord’s handling of the resident’s concerns about the fire alarm system.

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

Summary of reasons

Concerns about the increase in rent and service charges

We do not consider complaints about the reasonableness of rent and service charges or levels of increase.

Report of a rat infestation

We do not consider complaints which have already been determined by this Service.

Service charge query

The landlord acknowledged the delay in it providing an answer to the resident’s service charge query. It made an offer of redress in line with our Compensation Guidance which resolved the complaint.

Report of pigeons in a communal area

The landlord failed to complete agreed actions before and during the complaint procedure. This included replacing the netting in November 2023 and fortnightly cleaning of the affected area.

Concerns about the fire alarm system

The landlord failed to show it had investigated or resolved issues identified in April 2023 and delayed action on defects identified in October 2023. It responded appropriately to emergency reports in August 2023 and January 2024. Ongoing issues remained unresolved as of April 2024.

Window repairs

The landlord unreasonably delayed in inspecting the resident’s windows.

Complaint handling

The landlord acknowledged its complaint handling failures and recognised learning. It made an offer of redress above what its policy and our Compensation Guidance suggests, which resolved 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.

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 manager. 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 27 May 2026
2	Compensation order The landlord must pay the resident £350 made up as follows: £50 for the distress and inconvenience caused by its handling of the residents reports of pigeons. £200 for the distress and inconvenience caused by its handling of the resident’s concerns about the fire alarm system. £100 for the distress and inconvenience caused by its handling of the window repairs. This must be paid directly to the resident by the due date and not set off against any debt owed. 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 27 May 2026

Order

What the landlord must do

Due date

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 manager.
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

27 May 2026

Compensation order

The landlord must pay the resident £350 made up as follows:

£50 for the distress and inconvenience caused by its handling of the residents reports of pigeons.
£200 for the distress and inconvenience caused by its handling of the resident’s concerns about the fire alarm system.
£100 for the distress and inconvenience caused by its handling of the window repairs.

This must be paid directly to the resident by the due date and not set off against any debt owed. 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

27 May 2026

Recommendations

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

Our recommendations
We made findings of reasonable redress in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s service charge query and the complaint on the basis it pays the resident the £400 it offered at stage 2.

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
1 July 2023	The resident told the landlord she wanted to appeal her rent and service charges. She said this was due to the ongoing issues in her property with rats, pigeons, window repairs, and the fire alarm system. She said she had flagged these issues for many years. She said she wanted compensation for the issues with the property and a refund of her service charges.
8 August 2023	The resident submitted a complaint form about the same issues.
9 August 2023	The resident submitted another complaint form about the same issues.
13 September 2023	The landlord acknowledged the resident’s complaint.
31 October 2023	The resident submitted another complaint form about the same issues.
31 October 2023	The landlord confirmed it had split the issues into 3 separate complaints as follows: Complaint 1 – rent and service charges Complaint 2 – windows, pigeons, and the fire alarm system Complaint 3 – rats
28 November 2023	The landlord sent a stage 1 response in relation to complaint 2. It said it had repaired the fire alarm in September 2023, it would visit on 19 December 2023 for the windows, and its contractor would reinstall the pigeon netting.
1 December 2023	The resident escalated complaint 2. She said the landlord had not completed the window repairs or replaced the netting. She raised concerns about the fire alarm system and whether the alarm in her flat should be connected to the communal one.
15 January 2023	The landlord sent a stage 1 response to the issues from all 3 complaints. It did not find any service failures.
7 March 2024	The resident said the landlord had not responded to her request to escalate complaint 2 which she sent on 1 December 2023.
10 March 2024	The landlord acknowledged the resident’s request to escalate complaint 2. It said it would respond within 20 working days.
12 March 2024	The landlord acknowledged the resident’s request to escalate complaint 1. It said it would respond within 30 working days.
13 March 2024	The landlord informed the resident it needed more time to respond to complaint 2. It said it would respond by 25 March 2024.
27 March 2024	The landlord informed the resident it needed more time to respond to complaint 1. It said it would respond by 11 April 2024.
5 April 2024	The landlord sent a stage 2 response to complaint 1 and 2. It said it would not consider the rat infestation again as it had investigated this under complaint 3. It said it had repaired the fire alarm panel, increased cleaning of the communal area, and checked the resident’s windows which did not require a repair. It provided an explanation in relation to the resident’s service charges and how it calculated them. It explained how social rents are set each year. It acknowledged it should have responded to the service charge query sooner and its complaint handling had been poor. It apologised and offered £400 compensation.
Referral to the Ombudsman	The resident remained dissatisfied and asked us to investigate. She said the landlord had not completed fortnightly cleaning of the courtyard. She disagreed the windows were safe. The landlord had not rectified faults with the fire alarm system which made her feel unprotected. As an outcome she wanted the landlord to apologise for the conditions she had been living in and increase its compensation.

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 reasonableness of the rent and service charges and the level of increases.
Finding	Outside jurisdiction

In June 2023 the resident complained that her rent and service charges had increased too much. She said the charges were not reasonable due to the issues she had with the property.
We do not investigate complaints about the reasonableness of rent and service charges or the level of increase. As part of the resident’s complaint was about these factors, it would be more appropriate for her concerns to be considered by a court or the First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber).

Complaint	The reports of a rat infestation.
Finding	Outside jurisdiction

We may not consider issues which have already been decided on by the Ombudsman. We determined the resident’s complaint about the landlord’s handling of a rat infestation on 24 October 2024. We have not seen any evidence the resident reported any new reports of rats after this determination. We have not investigated this issue.

Complaint	The resident’s service charge query.
Finding	Reasonable redress

The resident said the landlord had not calculated the service charges correctly between the properties in her building. She said there were 7 flats in her building and up to 2023 the landlord had apportioned the service charges between 5 flats. For the 2023 financial year the landlord had apportioned them between 4 flats.
At stage 1 the landlord confirmed it had checked the resident’s service charges and they were correct. It said there were 2 flats in her building which paid different service charges but could not give any further details due to GDPR.
At stage 2 it explained the number the resident had referred to on her service charge statement did not refer to the number of properties. It related to the number of properties which were the same size as hers. It explained the number change from 5 to 4 may have been due to adaptations to a property in the building or homeownership. Although this was an explanation, the landlord should have been more specific. It could have done this without breaching GDPR.
The landlord acknowledged it should have provided an explanation to the resident’s query sooner. It apologised and offered £50 compensation. This amount is in line with our Compensation Guidance for situations which may not have significantly affected the overall outcome for the resident. This leads to a finding of reasonable redress.

Complaint	Report of pigeons in a communal area.
Finding	Service failure

It is unclear when the resident first raised this issue. The landlord told us it received complaints about pigeon excrement in an inaccessible rear alleyway in 2022. We do not know if this was from the resident or someone else. The landlord installed netting to deter the birds. After receiving reports that the netting had failed in April 2023, the landlord replaced the net in June 2023. It also increased its cleaning frequency from monthly to fortnightly.
In July 2023 the resident complained of pigeon excrement and dead birds to the rear of her property, which was attracting rats. The landlord instructed its pest control contractor on 8 August 2023 to inspect the netting and remove dead birds. Although we have not seen the job completion sheets for this work, invoices confirm the contractor attended on 14 August 2023 and 16 August 2023. The landlord’s pest guidance allows up to 45 days to respond to droppings in inaccessible areas. This response was therefore reasonable.
In October 2023 the resident contacted the local council. On 26 October 2023 the council instructed the landlord to clear waste from the rear area within 2 months. The landlord asked its estate services team to clear the area, but there is no evidence to confirm this was done.
In its stage 1 complaint response on 28 November 2023, the landlord said it could not prevent pigeon fouling but had instructed pest control to reinstate the netting. There is no evidence to show this happened.
In a further stage 1 response on 15 January 2024 and its stage 2 response on 5 April 2024, the landlord said it would renew the netting annually and clean the courtyard fortnightly. It also reiterated the ongoing challenges of managing pigeons.
When considering the complaint, we assessed whether the landlord failed, whether this caused detriment, and whether it took reasonable steps to put matters right.
The landlord attempted to put things right by agreeing to replace the netting annually and increasing its cleaning of the affected area. However, based on the evidence we have seen, we cannot be satisfied the landlord completed agreed actions before and as part of the complaint. This included replacing the netting in November 2023 and fortnightly cleaning. This leads to a finding of service failure.
When assessing the detriment to the resident we must consider any mitigating factors which may reduce the level of compensation required to put things right. In this case, the affected area was inaccessible to residents. However, the resident raised her concerns during the same period there was a rat infestation in her property. It was therefore understandable she was concerned the presence of the dead birds would attract rats. This is likely to have caused her some distress and inconvenience.
Our Compensation Guidance suggests an apology, learning and compensation of £50 would reflect circumstances where there was a failure which the landlord did not fully put right.

Complaint	Concerns about the fire alarm system.
Finding	Service failure

The resident had mains‑wired smoke alarms. This meant the landlord was responsible to maintain it. In July 2023 she complained that the landlord had not addressed issues identified in its April 2023 fire safety inspection. This included defects to the communal fire panel and the resident’s smoke alarms.
The landlord raised remedial works following the April 2023 inspection. Due to incomplete records it is unclear what work it completed or whether it attended within its 24-hour timescale for health and safety repairs. After the complaint, the landlord arranged an appointment which the resident then rescheduled to 3 August 2023. It is unclear whether this appointment took place. On the same day, the resident reported a faulty smoke alarm. The landlord attended on 4 August 2023 which was within its emergency timescale and found the alarms working.
Despite this, a fire safety certificate dated 18 October 2023 again identified required works to the resident’s smoke alarms. There is no evidence the landlord investigated or acted until the local council instructed it on 26 October 2023 to replace a missing smoke alarm within 2 months. The landlord raised a repair request in November 2023. Although records remain incomplete, the resident later confirmed the alarms were working.
The resident also raised ongoing concerns that her smoke alarms were not linked to the communal system, unlike other flats. She referred to increased risk due to her medical condition. It is unclear whether the alarms should have been linked or whether the resident’s understanding was accurate. While the landlord said it explained the system to her, there is no record of this discussion.
In January 2024 a contractor identified a potential issue with the communal fire panel. The landlord instructed a specialist contractor, who attended the next day and confirmed the system was working correctly.
In its stage 2 response, the landlord said it had inspected the resident’s alarms and the communal panel in August 2023 and found no issues. The resident disputed this, referring to an April 2024 fire safety certificate that again identified unresolved issues with her smoke alarms requiring investigation.
In October 2024 the landlord arranged a visit by senior staff to discuss the resident’s concerns. This did not take place as the resident had moved out.
Overall, the landlord responded appropriately to emergency reports in August 2023 and January 2024. However, it failed to show it investigated or resolved issues identified in April 2023. It delayed action on defects identified in October 2023 and only acted following council intervention. Ongoing issues remained unresolved as of April 2024, causing the resident distress and uncertainty about her safety. This amounts to maladministration.
Our Compensation Guidance suggests an apology, learning and compensation of £200 would be appropriate in this case. This reflects circumstances where the landlord failed to acknowledge what had gone wrong and failed to address the detriment to the resident.

Complaint	Window repairs.
Finding	Service failure

In July 2023 the resident complained she could not operate her windows. She said the landlord had done some work to the windows in 2019 but nothing had happened since. This was not in line with its repair procedure which says it will complete a pre-inspection within 10 working days of the resident requesting works.
On 26 October 2023 the local council wrote to the landlord advising it to overhaul the living room window and to leave it in proper working order. It said the landlord should complete this work within 2 months.
The landlord arranged an initial appointment for 13 December 2023, which the resident changed to 19 December 2023. It found the windows to be in good working order. It added lubricant to ease the sliding of the window. It also offered additional handles which the resident declined.
It took the landlord almost 5 months to inspect the windows, from July 2023 until November 2023.
Due to the unreasonable delay, there was service failure. This delay caused the resident to feel frustrated and ignored. This caused the resident further inconvenience because she had to contact the council to progress her concerns.
The landlord should pay the resident £100 compensation to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by the delay. Such an amount would reflect circumstances where there was a failure by the landlord which did not affect the overall outcome for the resident. This is in line with our Compensation Guidance.

Complaint	The handling of the complaint
Finding	Reasonable redress

Our Complaint Handling Code (the Code) sets out when and how a landlord should respond to complaints. The relevant Code in this case was the 2022 edition for stage 1 and the 2024 edition for stage 2. Our findings are:
The landlord had a published complaints policy which complied with the terms of the Code in respect of the definition of a complaint and timescales.
There were multiple failings in the landlord’s complaint handling. It set these out in its stage 2 complaint response on 5 April 2024 and recognised learning. For this reason we have not detailed the failures in this report and have summarised them as follows. It did not recognise or log early complaints. It failed to set out its understanding of the complaint in its acknowledgements and provided inaccurate information about response times. It also failed to provide our contact details within its extension requests. It issued late and inconsistent responses and repeatedly failed to meet its published timescales at both stage 1 and stage 2. The landlord’s decision to split and later recombine complaints caused further confusion and delay.
We understand the resident submitted multiple complaints about the same issues and chased responses before the landlord had an opportunity to reply. However, the Code requires landlords to correctly identify complaints and seek clarification where needed. Instead, the landlord created an overly complex complaints process with multiple stages. This made the process unduly long and delayed the resident’s ability to bring her complaint to this Service for investigation.
Overall, the failures led to prolonged complaint handling and avoidable inconvenience to the resident. In its final response, the landlord apologised for poor complaint handling, recognised learning, and offered £350 compensation. This amount is above what its policy and our Compensation Guidance suggests for the failings identified. We have therefore made a finding of reasonable redress.

Learning

The landlord needs to understand the reasons for the failures in its complaint handling and take corrective measures to address them.

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

The landlord’s record keeping was poor in this case. Its repair records were unclear and did not detail the nature or outcome of the works completed. At times, this affected our ability to assess its actions.

Communication

There were internal communication delays and errors when the resident submitted her complaint in July 2023. The landlord needs to know and understand why this happened and whether this is a wider problem within its organisation.