Sanctuary Housing Association (202518804)

Decision
Case ID	202518804
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	Sanctuary Housing Association
Landlord type	Housing Association
Occupancy	Assured Tenancy
Date	28 January 2026

Background

The resident lives in a 3-bedroom house. Three children were living with her at the time of the complaint. She complained that there had been a delay in repairing a bedroom ceiling which contained asbestos. She later complained that the landlord had not repaired a leak into the hallway. The landlord responded to both complaints in 1 complaint response.

What the complaint is about

The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of a repair to:
1. A ceiling containing asbestos.
2. A leak into the hallway.
We have also investigated the landlord’s complaint handling.

Our decision (determination)

There was service failure in the landlord’s handling of the ceiling repair.
The landlord has provided reasonable redress to the resident which resolved the failings in its handling of the leak into the hallway.
The landlord has provided reasonable redress to the resident which resolved the issues in its complaint handling.

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

Summary of reasons

Ceiling

The landlord recognised its failings and offered an apology and compensation to put things right at the time of the complaint. However, it has failed to take further action and there is currently still a hole in the ceiling.

Leak

There was a delay of over 8 months in resolving the leak into the resident’s hallway. It failed to keep the resident informed. However, it ultimately resolved the issue and offered an apology and a reasonable sum of compensation that provided reasonable redress in the circumstances.

Complaint handling

The landlord incorporated 2 unrelated complaints into 1 which caused confusion. There was a delay in the stage 2 complaint response and it did not follow remedies offered through to completion. However, it apologised and offered a reasonable sum of compensation which provided reasonable redress in the circumstances.

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 25 February 2026
2	Compensation order The landlord must pay the resident £600 to recognise the time, trouble, distress, and inconvenience caused by its ongoing handling of the repair to the ceiling. This must be paid directly to the resident by the due date. The landlord must provide documentary evidence of payment by the due date. This is in addition to the compensation previously offered.	No later than 25 February 2026
3	Completing the works – removal and replacement of bedroom ceiling The landlord must take all steps to ensure the work is completed promptly and in any event by the due date. If the landlord cannot complete the works in this time, it must explain to us, by the due date: Why it cannot complete the works by the due date and provide evidence to support its reasons. It must provide a revised timescale of when it will finish the works; or Explain the steps it has taken to ensure the works were completed and provide supporting evidence. It must provide a revised timescale if it is able to or explain why it cannot. Whether suitable alternative accommodation is necessary and will be made available to the resident until the work is completed	No later than 25 March 2026
4	Provide a copy of the asbestos report. The landlord must provide a copy of the recent asbestos report to the resident by the due date.	No later than 25 February 2026

Recommendations

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

Our recommendations
The landlord should pay the resident the £350 compensation it offered for the time, trouble, and distress caused by its complaint handling failures if it has not already done so.
The landlord should pay the resident the £434 compensation it offered for the time, trouble, distress, and inconvenience caused by its handling of the leak into the hallway if it has not already done so.
The landlord should inspect the smoke alarms and any other alarms in the hallway and make sure that they are connected and in good working order.
The landlord should provide information about how to make a claim on its insurance for the hallway carpet.

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
12 May 2025	The resident complained to the landlord. She said that: The landlord had told her that it would repair her bedroom ceiling that day after it had been damaged by a roof leak the previous July. However, the operative that attended had not completed the work because they were concerned that asbestos was present. The landlord had not sealed the hole, which the resident felt had increased in size over time. She was concerned that the household had been exposed to asbestos dust. She thought the landlord should have acted more promptly. She would like the ceiling repaired, and compensation for her wasted time and her families’ exposure to asbestos.
16 May 2025	The landlord acknowledged receipt of the stage 1 complaint.
21 May 2025	The resident logged another complaint. She said that: On 7 February 2025 she had told the landlord that her carbon monoxide alarm was going off constantly. The electrician could not isolate the alarm so another contractor capped the gas at the property. The contractor supplied 3 heaters for the weekend and attended to uncap the gas on 10 February 2025. The issue was caused by rainwater coming through the flat roof by her front door onto the alarm The landlord had not updated her about repairing the leak. When she called it, it told her that the job was complete on its system. She would like compensation for the extra electricity used, damage to her hallway carpet, and the distress caused.
30 May 2025	The landlord provided a stage 1 complaint response which covered both complaints. It said that: An issue with the roof had resulted in the damage to the bedroom ceiling. It had addressed this in another complaint response. It had repaired the roof on 22 January 2025 but had not logged a repair to the ceiling at that time. It had logged a repair to the ceiling after the resident had called it on 31 March 2025. It arranged an appointment to complete the work on 12 May 2025 but had not done so due to the presence of asbestos. It had approved a quote to remove the ceiling on 20 May 2025 and was waiting for a date from the contractor to start the work. It apologised for the inconvenience caused by the contractor capping her gas which led to 4 days without a gas supply. However, this repair was now complete. It upheld her complaint because it had not completed the ceiling repair within its service level agreement and it recognised that this had cost her time, trouble, and inconvenience. Therefore, alongside an apology it offered her £695.40 compensation comprising £150 for time, trouble, and inconvenience, £24 for no heating or hot water for 4 days, £100 for service failure, £305.80 for the lack of use of a bedroom, and £55.60 for future impact of this. It said that it would assess the damaged carpet separately.
3 June 2025	The resident asked the landlord to escalate the complaint to stage 2 of the complaints process. She said that: The landlord had not rectified the leak that caused the alarm to go off. Therefore, the job was not complete. The landlord had not mentioned the asbestos in its response and she thought that legally it should have made her aware that it was present in the ceiling as soon as it was damaged. She wanted more compensation and for the landlord to consider each complaint separately.
8 July 2025	The landlord extended the deadline for responding to the stage 2 complaint to 4 August 2025
21 July 2025	The landlord provided a stage 2 complaint response. It said that: It felt that it was appropriate to combine the 2 complaints. However, it would show its findings separately and offer separate resolutions to each issue. It understood how worrying it was to hear that asbestos was present in the property. Although current regulations did not require it to proactively inform residents about low level asbestos it regretted that it did not inform her of this when the ceiling was first damaged. Licenced contractors were scheduled to remove the ceiling on 1 October 2025 and operatives would replace it on 2 October 2025. In the meantime, the landlord would cover the existing hole. It offered £1,159 compensation for this element of the complaint. £400 for time, trouble, and inconvenience, £150 for future inconvenience up until 2 October 2025, and £609 for loss of enjoyment of the bedroom which equated to 10% of the rent charged between 1 December 2024 and 2 October 2025 To rectify the leak that had caused the alarm to activate, it had contacted the relevant team to ask them to approve a quote that they had received on 22 April 2025. Once this was approved the contractor should complete the work within 45 working days. It offered £434 compensation for this element of the complaint comprising £200 for time, trouble, and inconvenience, £200 for future inconvenience for a further 3 months, £24 for loss of heating and hot water for 4 days, and £60 for the cost of temporary heaters for 4 days. It offered a further £350 compensation for its complaint handling failures. This meant that the landlord offered total compensation of £1,943 which superseded its previous offer at stage 1 of the process.
Referral to the Ombudsman	In January 2026 the resident told us that the bedroom ceiling repair was still outstanding. The landlord had resolved the leak into the hallway but the smoke alarm remained disconnected. She told us that the landlord had recently commissioned a new asbestos survey and had since decided to replace the lounge ceiling. The resident wanted it to replace the ceiling in the bedroom, to reconnect the smoke alarm, and to provide details on how to make a claim via its insurance for the damaged hallway carpet once the work to the ceiling was complete.

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	Repair to ceiling including asbestos.
Finding	Service failure

The resident’s concerns and anxiety about the finding of asbestos materials within her home are understandable. However, it is not our role to investigate the level of asbestos or the risks involved, but to provide an independent review of the landlord’s actions in its response to the resident’s concerns.
The presence of materials containing asbestos in a home does not automatically constitute disrepair or place a repair obligation on the landlord. The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 state that if existing asbestos containing materials are in good condition and are not likely to be damaged, they may be left in place. Their condition should be monitored and managed to ensure they are not disturbed.
The landlord has a ‘duty to manage’ asbestos, as specified in the same regulations. It must take reasonable steps to identify, record, and have a management plan for asbestos. It must also protect residents from asbestos.
Additionally, the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) sets the minimum standard for housing safety. It lists 29 common hazards, the impacts these hazards can have, and the potential causes. These include asbestos. Under the HHSRS, the landlord must assess any current damage or potential fibre release. The landlord’s website says that if residents think there are materials that may contain asbestos in their home, and if these are damaged or in a poor condition, they should contact the landlord. It will arrange for a surveyor to inspect it.
The tenancy agreement confirms that the landlord is responsible for maintaining the structure of the property and the internal walls, floors, and ceilings. The landlord’s repairs policy says that it aims to complete all non-urgent repairs within 45 days.
The landlord completed a repair to the roof in January 2025. Following this it would have reasonably been expected to raise a repair job to rectify the damage this caused to the bedroom ceiling. However, it failed to do so. This error cost the resident time and trouble contacting it in March 2025 to chase up the repair.
The landlord then booked an appointment to complete the repair on 12 May 2025. However, the operative that attended had concerns that the ceiling contained asbestos and did not complete the work.
The landlord’s records show that an asbestos survey completed in June 2011 confirmed that there was asbestos in the textured coating on the ceilings in the property. This was assessed as being low risk at that time. Due to the damage to the ceiling, the landlord should have considered completing another risk assessment but we have seen no evidence that it did so. This failing meant that it was not aware whether the damage to the ceiling had increased the risk, and it failed to provide reassurance to the resident.
As the landlord was already aware of the presence of asbestos in the ceiling covering, it should have ensured that it arranged for a licensed contractor to remove it rather than sending an operative that was not licensed to complete the work. However, it did not and this error caused a further delay which caused the resident considerable distress due to her concerns about the asbestos.
In the stage 2 complaint response the landlord said that a licensed contractor would remove the ceiling on 1 October 2025, which was over 4 months later. However, this appointment did not go ahead. It then booked another appointment for 4 November 2025, but when the contractor attended, they only cut out a small section of the ceiling rather than the full ceiling as ordered. This error caused further delays and the landlord has told us that the work is still outstanding. It told us that it has booked another appointment to quote for work to the ceiling on the 27 January 2026, after which it will arrange an appointment to complete the work.
The landlord offered £1,159 compensation to the resident for this element of the complaint. This was to reflect the time, trouble, and inconvenience caused, its failure to manage her concerns and provide reassurance, and future impact and loss of enjoyment of the room up until 2 October 2025 when it was due to replace the ceiling.
Our remedies guidance says that compensation over £1,000 should be considered in cases where there has been severe maladministration, and the landlord’s failings have had a seriously detrimental impact on a resident. This includes where a landlord has repeatedly failed to provide a service, and where the failings accumulated over a considerable length of time.
The landlord’s offer of £1,159 compensation for this element of the complaint, was significant. This was proportionate considering the impact on the resident by the time of its stage 2 complaint response in July 2025. However, in January 2026, the ceiling repair is still outstanding. This has demonstrated that it did not learn from the complaint or fully put things right.
In view of this, we have used our discretion and ordered the landlord to pay an additional £600 compensation to account for the further distress, inconvenience, time, and trouble, caused to the resident while pursuing a resolution.

Complaint	Leak into hallway.
Finding	Reasonable redress

The leak into the hallway caused the carbon monoxide alarm to activate on 7 February 2025. The landlord responded promptly to the residents call about the alarm. It provided temporary heaters because the gas company capped the gas supply. It also provided compensation to cover the extra electricity used by temporary heaters, and because she had no hot water for 4 days. Therefore, it handled this part of the repair appropriately.
However, it failed to raise a follow-up repair job to rectify the source of the leak. This error cost the resident time and trouble contacting it again.
When the resident contacted the landlord for an update, it told her that the job was complete which caused her frustration and cost her further time and trouble raising a complaint. However, again in the stage 1 complaint response the landlord said that the job was complete, which was incorrect because it had still not repaired the source of the leak. This cost her further time and trouble escalating the complaint.
In the stage 2 complaint response in July 2025, the landlord told the resident that it had received a quote for the work in April 2025, but it had not yet approved the work. This unacceptable delay caused the resident distress and inconvenience due to the ongoing issue.
The landlord told us that it repaired the guttering and downpipe on 7 October 2025 which resolved the leak. This was 8 months after the issue arose. This unacceptable delay was not in line with the timescales in its repairs policy and caused the resident distress, inconvenience, time, and trouble. However, the landlord offered an apology, £434 compensation. It has now resolved the issue and committed to learning from the case. We consider this to be reasonable redress in the circumstances. We have recommended that the landlord pays this sum if it has not already done so.

Complaint	The complaint
Finding	Reasonable redress

The landlord’s complaint policy says that if the Stage 1 response has not yet been issued and the customer raises additional points of dissatisfaction which are not related to the issues raised at Stage 1, this should be logged as a new complaint. This is in line with the Housing Ombudsman’s complaint handling code (the Code).
Therefore, as the second complaint was not related to the first, the landlord should have logged a new complaint. This error caused confusion and the resident was unclear how it was breaking down the remedies offered at stage 1. However, it broke down the remedies offered for each complaint at stage 2 of the process which was an appropriate action to take in the circumstances.
The landlord’s complaint policy says that it aims to respond to stage 2 complaints within 20 working days. When this is not possible the complaints handler will discuss this with the customer and agree an extension to the timescale for response.
In this case the landlord took 35 days to respond to the stage 2 complaint. However, it wrote to the resident to inform her that it needed longer. It then provided the stage 2 complaint response prior to the revised date it had provided.
The Code says that complaint handlers should monitor any remedies offered to ensure that they are completed. However, in this case the landlord did not ensure that it completed the repairs as promised and therefore did not use the complaints process to resolve the issue. This caused further distress to the resident and cost her further time and trouble chasing it again and escalating the complaint to us.
In the stage 2 complaint response the landlord offered the resident an apology and £350 compensation to reflect the time, trouble, and distress caused by its complaint handling failures. It has also committed to learning from this case. We consider this to be reasonable redress considering the circumstances of the case. We have made a recommendation for the landlord to pay this sum if it has not already done so.

Learning

The landlord must check that it has systems in place to ensure that contractors raise jobs for follow-on work as necessary.

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

The landlord must ensure that it keeps its records updated regarding the presence of asbestos and that it passes this information onto contractors and operatives.

Communication

The landlord failed to reassure the resident regarding the asbestos risk and failed to keep her updated throughout the process.