Sanctuary Housing Association (202306588)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202306588

Sanctuary Housing Association

29 August 2024

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

The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of:
1. Plastering repairs.
2. Reports of damp.
3. Reports about the boiler, radiator and shower repairs.
4. The associated formal complaints.

Background

The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord, which is a housing association. The property is a 2-bedroom house and the tenancy commenced in 2022. The resident reported that her household suffer from asthma and allergies.
Evidence has been taken from the landlord’s reference to events, where these have been corroborated by the resident’s own detailed account of events, as well as feedback and comments from operatives, surveyors, and the resident and available repair records. The full repair records have not been seen for the repairs under this investigation, so the resident’s reports have been relied upon with regard to when the landlord attended various repairs, including where this aligns with the landlord’s available communication around the same issues.
It is acknowledged that multiple other repair issues and complaints were raised by the resident throughout the period covered by this investigation. However, this Service can only investigate complaints which have exhausted the landlord’s complaints process and have been brought to us for consideration. Therefore, other repairs and complaints do not form part of the assessment and are not included within this report.

Summary of Events

On 22 August 2022 the resident raised a repair with the landlord about the plastering in the living room. The landlord’s contractor attended on 24 August 2022 and advised that an external contractor needed to assess the works and they would re-attend. The resident chased the landlord twice and then raised a formal complaint on 23 September 2022 about the delayed repair and its communication. She explained that her household were affected by the dust and debris from the incomplete plastering due to their allergies and asthma.
The landlord acknowledged the complaint on 30 September 2022 (complaint 1). It provided a holding response on 7 October 2022 that the contractor would be attending to address the repair the following week and the landlord would contact the resident in 10 days to follow up. The following week the contractor visited the property and advised that quotes had to be raised and authorised before the work could be scheduled.
On 19 October 2022 the resident emailed the landlord, stating that she sought a refund of rent as she lived in unsatisfactory conditions while waiting for repairs to the living room and the situation was affecting the household. She also reported additional repair issues including: the shower, boiler, and radiator. The resident explained that she could not accommodate the repair timescales she was given by the landlord when she reported issues (such as 24 hours) as she was only available on Friday evenings and weekends, due to her work.
On 7 November 2022 the resident chased the landlord’s response to complaint 1 and reported that she had no access to the living room for 2.5 months. The landlord contacted her on 9 November 2022 and explained that the contractor would complete the plastering works on 7 December 2022 (although this did not happen).
In the landlord’s stage 1 response to complaint 1 of 20 December 2022, it acknowledged the delay to the plastering works, which were now scheduled for 9 January 2023. It apologised for the time taken to complete the works and for its communication, and offered £200 for inconvenience, time and trouble and £50 for its poor communication.
The resident declined the compensation and stated that she was in the process of writing up her complaint, on 27 December 2022.
The contractor attempted access on 9 January 2023, gained access the following day, and reported the repairs as complete on 13 January 2023. The resident disputed the completion of the repairs stating that there remained touching up work, and work to the sockets and skirting boards. She also reported possible damp on 16 January 2023, after noticing that the plaster was not drying. The landlord’s records state that she felt the remaining repairs would be pointless until the underlying damp was resolved.
On 8 February 2023 the landlord confirmed complaint 1 was now at stage 2 and it issued its response on 1 March 2023. It detailed the events since August 2022, the steps it had taken to progress the required works and the reasons for periods of delay. It acknowledged specific communication failures and delays in the complaints process and apologised for these. It was continuing to chase the contractor regarding the outstanding works related to the plastering and a surveyor would inspect the reports of damp.
The landlord apologised for the resident’s experience and confirmed that feedback had been given to its teams. It increased its compensation offer to £775 (£300 for time, trouble and inconvenience, £100 for delays at stage 1, £75 for delays in escalating the complaint, £100 for delays to repairs, £100 for poor communication and £100 for future impact).
A damp survey took place on 9 March 2023, when the surveyor noted that some work had previously been carried out to install damp proofing but wet patches remained. The contractor carried out the remaining plastering work on 22 March 2023.
A specialist damp surveyor was scheduled for 7 April 2023 but the resident advised that they did not attend whilst she was home. The landlord rescheduled the survey for 12 May 2023 (cancelled by the resident) and then 19 May 2023 (not completed).
On 10 May 2023 the resident submitted a new complaint about a separate matter and said she wanted the landlord to group together repairs to the shower, boiler and radiator. She also reiterated that she had been without a living room for almost a year due to damp and mould and plastering issues.
The landlord acknowledged the complaint (complaint 2) on 11 May 2023 and provided its stage 1 response on 12 May 2023. It said it had raised a repair to the boiler to be completed by 7 July 2023 which would be followed by the required annual gas servicing. Contractors would be in touch for the damp and plastering repair. It apologised and offered £50 for the inconvenience caused.
On 15 May 2023 the resident escalated complaint 2 to stage 2, stating that:
1. She wanted repairs to be attended all at once and, in response, the landlord had said that repairs may require different types of people to visit which meant this may not be possible. Nonetheless, she wanted the landlord to arrange visits all on the same day.
2. She reported the boiler, shower and radiator repairs some time ago and they were still not fixed. Three repair contractors came out to fix the boiler and only did so on the third visit. The same happened with the shower, but this remained unresolved. She recently had a repair booked for the shower but asked that this be rebooked so it was grouped with other work.
3. The pressure issue was fixed, but now the boiler and radiator were making noises.
4. She wanted to claim damages for the floor which she had replaced due to the radiator repair.
On 10 June 2023 the landlord updated the resident about the damp stating that it was awaiting its contractor and would update her. On 14 June 2023 the contractor messaged the resident to arrange the damp survey and this was completed on 23 June 2023. The surveyor advised the resident to keep the property ventilated and heated, after they tested and found humidity, and observed that the resident said she did not typically turn on the heating much due to costs or would dry clothes over the radiators. There were also works required, though the full scope of the damp works have not been clear.
The landlord contacted the resident on 5 July 2023. It explained that damp works were to be approved by its revenue team which would contact her and update her on the scale and timeframe of the works. They would also respond to her request to move to alternative accommodation during the repairs.
The resident continued to communicate with the landlord in August 2023 about repair bookings not being grouped together and chasing the damp work.
The landlord confirmed on 24 August 2023 that it was investigating complaint 2 at stage 2. It sent a holding letter on 7 September 2023 advising that it needed more time to complete its investigation and would respond by 4 October 2023.
On 4 October 2023 the landlord provided its stage 2 response to complaint 2, as follows:
1. Following the surveyor’s visit on 9 March 2023, damp works were identified. A specialist damp contractor was arranged and made attempted visits before they could attend on 23 June 2023; they quoted works on 5 July 2023 to address the damp and carry out remedial works in the property. There were delays in works being approved, but they were now scheduled for completion in the next 3 weeks.
2. The shower pressure repair was not completed due to lack of access, so it had asked the repair team to group this work with the damp works.
3. An order was raised for the boiler and radiators which were reported as being noisy on 10 March 2023 but the operative made several unsuccessful attempts to visit, before the visit was grouped with an annual gas service check which was completed on 24 May 2023. The landlord directed the resident to contact its repair team regarding any continued problems.
4. It apologised for the resident’s experience, the impact of the damp repairs in the living room and the shower pressure, boiler and radiator problems, as well as the delays in escalating complaint 2 to stage 2.
5. It apologised for its complaint handling and communication and increased its offer of compensation to £1,342 (to cover the period up to November 2023 when the works should be complete):
  1. £350 for time trouble and inconvenience due to the impact of the repairs to the shower pressure, radiator leak, boiler noise, living room and damp continued issues, considerate of no access appointments.
  2. £300 for complaint handling.
  3. £692 for the loss of enjoyment for the living room from March to November 2023.
The landlord returned within 3 weeks to carry out damp proofing work, as set out in its complaint response.
Following the resident’s continued reports that the boiler and radiator were noisy, and there were other outstanding repairs, the landlord’s gas operative attended on 30 November 2023 but they could not hear the noises which had been reported. A plumber attended on 12 December 2023 and returned on 13 December 2023 to replace the faulty shower. The landlord also checked with its damp surveyor who recommended it consider another inspection in the Spring, to check for damp after the remedial work of October 2023 had been completed.
The landlord subsequently updated its stage 2 response to complaint 2 on 15 December 2023 taking into account the additional delays the resident experienced:
1. The resident would need to raise her new repair reports (outside of those it had investigated under the complaint) to the customer service team.
2. It did not have evidence to the support the resident’s claim for damages, such as receipts from when the floor was fitted or photographs of the damage.
3. It apologised for the delays in its communication and repairs and increased its compensation offer to £1,741:
  1. £350 for time, trouble and inconvenience, due to the impact of the shower pressure, radiator leak, boiler noise, living room damp issues, considerate of no access appointments.
  2. £991 for the loss of enjoyment of the living room from March to November 2023, and future offer to cover until repairs should be completed.
  3. £400 for the complaint handling delays in escalation and poor communication.
The resident told the Ombudsman in August 2024 that the landlord’s surveyor revisited the property around May 2024 and found leaks in the loft and damp downstairs.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

The Ombudsman has considered the timeframe from August 2022 (when complaint 1 was made) to October 2023 (when complaint 2 exhausted the landlord’s complaint process). Reference is made to events beyond this date, to December 2023, only in so far as they relate to the resolution of complaint 2. New reports about repairs (including reports of a leak and damp in 2024) may be raised with the landlord as a new complaint, so that it has a reasonable opportunity to investigate and resolve the issues internally before the Ombudsman intervenes (reflected at paragraph 42(a) of the Scheme).

The landlord’s handling of plastering repairs

Under the Tenancy Agreement the landlord should maintain and keep in good condition the structure of the property and the internal walls and carry out repairs within a reasonable timescale. The landlord’s repair timescales specify this as 24 hours for emergency repairs and 45 days for routine repairs. The resident must provide access upon receiving at least 24 hours’ notice for the landlord to carry out its repairing obligations and annual servicing of gas appliances. The landlord has not disputed its repair responsibilities in this case.
Upon learning of the plastering repair in the living room on 22 August 2022 the landlord attended within 2 days, which was reasonable. However it did not carry out repairs on its first visit and further assessment was required. The landlord did not subsequently manage the repair reasonably; it was not proactive in arranging the works with the resident and instead the resident chased it repeatedly in September 2022 and raised a formal complaint that month, before the landlord took steps to re-arrange the work in October 2022.
The evidence shows that repairs were assessed in separate stages by separate operatives (such as the repair team followed by a specialist surveyor). Repairs then needed to be approved by the landlord’s revenue team due to the scale of work and costs. Evidence shows that the landlord also experienced access issues on multiple occasions, as the resident did not always have capacity to be on site. However, despite these mitigations to the landlord’s delayed repair service, the overall timescale from August 2022 to January 2023 was not reasonable.
The landlord reasonably relied on its contractor’s feedback that the repairs had been completed in January 2023. When the resident disputed this, the landlord engaged with its contractor to finish the work, which was appropriate, but the work was not completed until March 2023. The overall timescale for the works was approximately 7 months, which was approximately 5 months over a reasonable repair timescale, as per the landlord’s target repair time of 45 days for routine works. This was, therefore, not reasonable.
The resident explained that she had limited use of the living room and was concerned for her household’s vulnerability, so she experienced time and trouble as well as distress and inconvenience due to the landlord’s delayed repairs. There is no evidence that the landlord established that the room was uninhabitable; the resident explained she missed a call which may have been for the decant inspection, and there were several reports of unsuccessful access. The Ombudsman has therefore not seen evidence that the landlord failed in following its decant process.
Where service failings are identified, it is then for the Ombudsman to consider whether the landlord’s response to those failings, through the operation of its complaints process, was sufficient to put things right. In this case, the landlord openly acknowledged that it had not completed the repairs in an appropriate timescale and had not communicated effectively, and it apologised for this.
The landlord also offered £500 compensation which amounts to approximately £100 per month for the period that the repair was unreasonably outstanding. This was in line with its Compensation Guidance for awards for service failure involving high effort and high impact. This is also in line with the Ombudsman’s Remedies Guidance where there has been no permanent impact but there has still been an adverse impact on the resident. Therefore, a finding of reasonable redress has been made for the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports about the plastering repairs.

The landlord’s handling of reports of damp

The resident’s report of damp on 16 January 2023 was logged in February 2023 and initial inspections were carried out in March and April 2023. Further inspections were arranged in May 2023 and onwards, some of which were rebooked due to access issues, before the work was ultimately completed in October 2023.
Evidence of the damp repairs have not always been clear; the Ombudsman has assessed the surveyor’s feedback as well as the resident and landlord’s corroborated accounts of the remedial works which took place. It is clear that, overall, the landlord did not respond reasonably to the resident’s report of damp in the living room, due to the protracted assessment and diagnosis of the issue and the delays in carrying out the repairs. The landlord also did not log the resident’s report until a month after she had first raised it.
The landlord’s response was not in line with the expectations set out in the Ombudsman’s report Spotlight On: Damp and Mould, It’s not Lifestyle. This states that landlord responses to damp should be timely and reflect the urgency of the issue. Where extensive works are required, landlords should also consider the individual circumstances of the household including any vulnerabilities. The landlord did not evidence that it took these measures. The resident experienced time and trouble in chasing it for the repairs and distress and inconvenience, due to her household’s vulnerabilities.
The landlord ultimately awarded £991 for the loss of enjoyment of the living room associated with the damp repairs from March to November 2023. The period of its calculation was reasonable as it aligns with the period when it reasonably ought to have carried out the repair in line with its repair target timescale. The end date of November 2023 takes account of the delayed response, including the period of October 2023 when it ultimately did carry out the repairs. The landlord also awarded a portion of £350 for the damp issues in the living room (though this also addressed other repair delays).
The landlord’s guidance directs it to award high level impact compensation for failures where this has prevented the resident from enjoying their home, delays in providing support, and excessive failure to works being carried out or issues being resolved. The landlord’s offer of compensation for the delays to the damp repairs was above the level it would normally award under its Compensation Guidance for high level impact and effort, in respect of service failures (which is £400). The landlord’s offer was therefore resolution focused and recognised the impact of its delayed service on the resident and her household, which was reasonable. Therefore, there has been reasonable redress awarded by the landlord for the service failure in its response to reports about damp.

The landlord’s handling of repairs to the boiler, radiator and shower

On 19 October 2022 the resident reported repairs to the shower, boiler and radiator. The first evidence of the landlord’s response is in March 2023 when it arranged an inspection. This was approximately 3 months beyond the reasonable timescale of 45 days under the landlord’s repair guidance to address repairs, and was therefore unreasonable.
The exact completion of the repairs were not clearly evidenced. The evidence suggests that works were carried out individually, to the boiler and radiator in May 2023 and to the shower in December 2023. There were also multiple repair visits, but the resident reported for the boiler and radiator that these visits did not resolve the repairs until the third repair appointment. These timescales are beyond the landlord’s target repair times and were unreasonable.
The delays to the shower repairs were partially because the resident wished to group repairs together, but the landlord ultimately still carried this repair out individually, in December 2023. This was an unreasonable length of time against it repair guidelines. The resident’s new reports about the noisy radiator and boiler were raised in May 2023 and not inspected until November 2023. This was also an unreasonable length of time, however, there were no repair issues established, so the detriment of this delay was minimal.
Overall, repairs were outstanding for an unreasonably lengthy period, after they were first reported. The delays were mitigated to an extent due to the circumstances of the case, in which the landlord reported access issues at times. However, it would have been reasonable for the landlord to provide the resident with an action plan, ahead of time, rather than to leave the repairs unaddressed for long periods.
The landlord made an offer of redress of £350 for time, trouble and inconvenience, due to the impact of the shower pressure, radiator leak, boiler noise, and other repairs, taking into account the lack of access. While this was resolution focused, the landlord missed the opportunity to assess the timescales of its responses to the individual repairs under this investigation or take into account where it did manage to gain access but failed to then complete the repairs. Taking into account all the circumstances of the case, the landlord’s offer was not proportionate to the overall service failure on this point.
Therefore, there was maladministration and the landlord is ordered to pay an additional £200 compensation. This is in line with the Ombudsman’s Remedies Guidance which suggests such levels for circumstances where the landlord has acknowledged failings and made some attempt to put things right but this has not been proportionate to the failings identified by our investigation.
The landlord appropriately directed the resident to report new repair issues which she raised in addition to those under this investigation with the relevant team, which was appropriate. This is because the landlord’s advice enables the resident’s new reports to be assessed and responded to in accordance with either the repair guidelines, or under stage 1 of the complaint process, depending on the nature of those reports.

The landlord’s handling of the associated complaints

The Complaint Handling Code (the Code) sets out that landlords must respond to complaints within a reasonable timescale, specifically within 10 working days at stage 1 and 20 working days at stage 2.
Complaint 1 was raised on 30 September 2022 and responded to partially on 7 October 2022 and then formally at stage 1 on 20 December 2022. This was 47 days over the Code’s timescale, and was therefore unreasonable.
The resident explained that she did not accept the stage 1 response; the resident and landlord continued to engage and the landlord confirmed that complaint 1 was escalated to stage 2 on 8 February 2023. The final response was dated 1 March 2023, which was within the 20 working day timescale of the Code, and therefore reasonable.
The landlord upheld complaint 1, acknowledged its service failures, apologised for them, and awarded £175 compensation, which was appropriate. The level of redress was reasonable for the overall delays in the handling of complaint 1, taking into account the landlord’s engagement with the resident outside of the complaint process and its temporary holding response prior to the formal stage 1 response. Therefore, there was reasonable redress for the complaint handling associated with complaint 1.
Turning to the resident’s complaint about damp, the landlord referenced the damp work in its stage 2 response to complaint 1 in March 2023. However, the damp was not formally investigated at either stage of the complaints process for complaint 1.
The resident first raised damp formally on 10 May 2023 under her communication to the landlord about the letter she received regarding gas servicing access. The landlord’s stage 1 response to complaint 2 (of 12 May 2023) stated that a contractor would be in touch. The landlord responded within the 10 day timescale of the Code, which was reasonable, but its response was brief and did not demonstrate that it had investigated what had happened since the resident reported the damp. This was unreasonable.
The resident did not escalate her damp concerns at the same time as the rest of the complaint on 15 May 2023 about the boiler, radiator and shower. Instead she chased the damp repairs separately and during a period around August 2023 when she submitted multiple complaint forms about the landlord not grouping repairs together and chasing the damp repairs.
The landlord confirmed the issues being considered at stage 2 for complaint 2 on 24 August 2023, as the radiator, boiler and shower. However, it then went on to address the damp issues alongside the other repairs within the stage 2 response. It appropriately investigated its repair service in responding to the resident’s report of damp within its assessment of compensation in its original and revised offers. However, its communication prior to this final response was not clear and did not manage the resident’s expectations fairly, leaving her to consider that it had not investigated the damp repairs at all. This was unreasonable.
The landlord’s offer of compensation was £400 for the delayed timescales and communication. This was reasonable as it recognised where it did not provide appropriately timed responses and it also reflected the communication failure of not confirming the content of the complaint clearly or accurately, before investigating it. The level of compensation was proportionate to the complaint handling delay which was approximately 4 months beyond the 20 day timescale set out in the Code. The landlord’s offer of redress amounted to approximately £100 per month for its service failure, in line with the Ombudsman’s Remedies Guidance. The landlord therefore offered reasonable redress for the complaint handling failure for the damp complaint.
Turning to the complaint about the shower, boiler and radiator, this was raised as a formal complaint on 10 May 2023. The landlord provided a stage 1 response on 12 May 2023 which was within the prescribed timescales of the Code. Following the resident’s escalation on 15 May 2023 the landlord acknowledged the stage 2 escalation in August 2023, amidst the multiple and repeat new complaints which the resident had submitted in June and August 2023. The landlord’s stage 2 response was issued on 4 October 2023 which was approximately 4 months beyond the Code’s prescribed timescale of 20 days, as already set out above. This was unreasonable.
The landlord revised its stage 2 response to increase the compensation, after further discussion with the resident between October and December 2023. The landlord acknowledged service failure in the delayed complaint escalation, delayed complaint handling and poor communication, and it awarded a total of £400, which was reasonable in all the circumstances of the case. Therefore, there was reasonable redress for the landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaints overall.

Determination (decision)

In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of reports about the boiler, radiator and shower repair.
In accordance with paragraph 53(b) of the Scheme, the landlord offered redress prior to the investigation which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint satisfactorily, resulting in a finding of reasonable redress in respect of its handling of:
1. Plastering repairs.
2. Reports of damp.
3. The associated formal complaints.

Orders and recommendations

Order

Within 4 weeks of the date of this report, the landlord is ordered to pay directly to the resident £200 for the service failure in its response to reports about the boiler, radiator and shower repair. This is in addition to any redress already paid.

Recommendation

The landlord is recommended to pay the compensation it has already awarded under its complaint investigation (£1,741) in respect of its acknowledged service failures if it has not already done so. The reasonable redress finding is made on the basis of this sum being paid to the resident, as it recognised genuine elements of service failure.