Sanctuary Housing Association (202401850)

Decision
Case ID	202401850
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	Sanctuary Housing Association
Landlord type	Housing Association
Occupancy	Leaseholder
Date	20 May 2026

Background

1. The resident lives in a flat within a large block, owned by the landlord. The building’s heating system failed on 27 November 2023, which the landlord repaired 2 days later. Separately to this, both the block’s 2 lifts broke down on 4 December. The landlord restored one of the lifts the next day but the other remained out of service. The resident complained on 4 December about both issues and requested compensation for his inconvenience.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s:
   1. Handling of heating repairs.
   2. Handling of lift repairs.
   3. Complaint handling.

Our decision (determination)

3. We found:
   1. No maladministration in the landlord’s handling of:
      1. Heating repairs.
      2. Lift repairs.
   2. Service failure in the landlord’s complaint handling.

Summary of reasons

Heating repairs

4. The landlord responded in line with its emergency repairs policy and restored the system within a reasonable timeframe. It kept each household updated and offered portable heaters pending the repairs.

Lift repairs

5. The landlord responded within 24 hours to ensure the building had at least one working lift, while it arranged more complex repairs for the other. It repaired the second lift within a reasonable time and kept all households informed about its progress.

Complaint handling

6. The landlord did not respond within its policy timeframes at either stage of its process. While it subsequently reviewed this and offered a reasonable remedy, this was almost 6 months after its final response.

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
27 November 2023	The building’s heating system broke down, shutting off the heating and hot water to all flats including the resident’s. The landlord restored the supply 2 days later.
4 December 2023	Both the building’s lifts broke down. The resident complained that day about the heating and lift issues, and he requested compensation for the impact of both. The landlord repaired one of the lifts the next day.
18 December 2023	The landlord repaired the second lift.
18 January 2024	The landlord issued its stage 1 response. It apologised and said it was still considering appropriate compensation for all those affected.
24 January 2024	The resident escalated his complaint as he said he was still waiting for compensation.
5 March 2024	The landlord issued its stage 2 response. It apologised for the loss of service regarding both the heating supply and the lifts, and it offered £50 in compensation for the resident’s inconvenience.
Referral to the Ombudsman	The resident referred his complaint to us in July 2024 as he remained unhappy with the level of compensation.
14 August 2024	The landlord further reviewed the case and paid the resident £250, which it said was for its complaint handling delays and the resident’s associated inconvenience.

 

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	Heating repairs
Finding	No maladministration

 

7. The heating system in the resident’s block failed suddenly on 27 November 2023, cutting off the heat and hot water supply to all 293 flats. The landlord attended that day and found that a leak had damaged the heating control panel beyond repair. It attended to the leak and fitted a replacement panel on 29 November which restored the supply.
8. The landlord responded in line with its emergency repairs policy timescale of 24 hours, and it offered portable heaters in the meantime. It kept each household updated via emails, in-person visits, and hand-delivered letters. There is nothing in the evidence to suggest the issue had any specific additional impact on the resident and the landlord provided prompt and reasonable updates.
9. The resident complained on 4 December 2023 to request £100 per day for his inconvenience. In the landlord’s stage 1 response of 18 January 2024, it said it was still considering relevant compensation and would contact affected households the following week.
10. The resident escalated his complaint on 24 January 2024 to say the landlord had not offered the compensation he asked for. It issued its stage 2 response on 5 March, in which it apologised again and offered £50 for the resident’s inconvenience.
11. The resident told us that the outage in his flat lasted for 2 extra days. However, there is no evidence that he informed the landlord of this, and nothing in the records shows an extended loss of service affecting his particular flat.
12. While the situation was frustrating and inconvenient for the resident, there is no indication the landlord’s actions (or inaction) caused the outage, and it made reasonable efforts to restore the heating and hot water as quickly as possible. There was therefore no service failure by the landlord, and no obligation for it to offer compensation.

 

Complaint	Lift repairs
Finding	No maladministration

 

13. The landlord received reports from building staff on 4 December 2023 to say both the lifts in the block had broken down. The landlord attended the next morning in line with its emergency repair timescales, and it restored one of the lifts to full working order that day. It arranged a specialist contractor for the second lift due to complex repairs, which it completed on 18 December. This was in line with its repairs policy timescales of 15 working days for standard repairs. Overall, the building was without a full lift service for one day.
14. In the meantime, the resident included the issue in his complaint of 4 December 2023 due to the inconvenience of both lifts breaking down at the same time. The landlord did not acknowledge this element of the resident’s complaint in its stage 1 response, and the resident raised this again in his escalation request. In the landlord’s stage 2 response of 5 March 2024, it apologised for the inconvenience and explained it needed to order and fit new parts to the second lift, which contributed to the time taken to complete the repair.
15. The landlord’s response was reasonable, as it explained why it had taken longer to restore the second lift and acknowledged the resident’s inconvenience. There is no evidence to suggest the landlord could have foreseen both lifts being out of service at the same time, and it responded promptly to the incident on 4 December 2023. The landlord completed the repairs in line with its policy and there was no failure in its service.

Complaint	Complaint handling
Finding	Service failure

 

16. The landlord’s complaints policy at the time aligned with our Complaint Handling Code (the Code). This stated it would acknowledge complaints within 5 working days and respond at stage 1 within a further 10 working days. The landlord’s policy then stated it would respond to escalation requests within 20 working days. If it needed to extend its deadline at either stage, it would inform the resident.
17. The landlord did not acknowledge the resident’s complaint or issue its stage 1 response until 30 working days later. It then did not respond at stage 2 until 29 working days after the resident’s escalation request. The landlord therefore responded outside the timescales of its policy and Code by at least 15 and 9 working days respectively.
18. While this this did not impact on the landlord’s handling of the substantive issues, these delays were not insignificant and it did not acknowledge them until it reviewed the case several months later, on 14 August 2024. At this point, the landlord offered £250 in compensation for its complaint handling and it has provided evidence that it paid this to the resident at the time. None of the basic facts had changed in the interim, and so it was unreasonable, and a failing, for the landlord not to provide the acknowledgements and compensation in its stage 2 complaint response. However, the level of compensation later offered was reasonable, and so no further orders have been made.

Learning

Knowledge information management (record keeping) and communication

19. The landlord provided sufficient records and showed it had communicated frequently with all relevant households about both the lift and heating issues. While it later reviewed its complaint handling, it would benefit from considering the reason for its delays to ensure it can respond within the appropriate timescales as part of the formal complaint process in future.