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Sanctuary Housing Association (202346635)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202346635

Sanctuary Housing Association

15 April 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 reports of a radiator not heating properly.

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant since December 2022 of the landlord who is a housing association.
  2. On 3 January 2024 the resident contacted the landlord and said the radiator in the bedroom was taking longer to heat up than the radiators in other rooms.
  3. The landlord booked an appointment for an operative to attend the property and inspect the radiator on 6 February 2024.  
  4. Following this inspection, a new radiator was deemed necessary and subsequently fitted on 13 February 2024.
  5. On 14 February 2024 the resident raised a complaint with the landlord. She said since she had moved in the radiator in the main bedroom was not big enough to heat the room and the bedroom was cold. The resident also said the cold was making her health issues worse. She said the repair improved the situation but she wanted compensation for the previous years where the radiator was not heating sufficiently.
  6. The landlord issued its stage 1 complaint response on 25 February 2024. It said it had been first notified of the issue with the radiator on 3 January 2024. An operative attended the property on 13 February 2024, identified a fault and replaced the radiator.
  7. On 26 February 2024 the resident escalated her complaint to stage 2 of the landlord’s process. She said that she had been living with a small radiator in her bedroom for 7 years and wanted further investigation.
  8. The landlord issued its stage 2 response on 8 March 2024. It reiterated its stage 1 response and said that as the radiator replacement was carried out, no service failure had been found.
  9. The resident was unhappy with the outcome and bought her complaint to the Ombudsman. In recent conversation with the resident she informed us the issues with the radiator not heating sufficiently and dealing with the complaint affected her health. The resident said that she had previously reported issues with the heating, boiler and radiator and she would like the landlord to acknowledge its failings and offer compensation for the last 7 years of the radiator not heating properly.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. In accordance with paragraph 42.c of the Scheme, the Ombudsman may not consider complaints about matters which were not brought to the attention of the landlord as a formal complaint within a reasonable period, which would normally be within 12 months of the matters arising. This is so that the landlord has a reasonable opportunity to consider the issues whilst they are still ‘live’, and while the evidence is available to reach an informed conclusion on the events that occurred. In this case, the investigation will focus on the events leading to the resident’s formal complaint on 14 February 2024 that were considered in the landlord’s final response dated 8 March 2024.
  2. The resident said to the landlord and to us that the issues were affecting her health. The Ombudsman is unable to assess the cause of, or liability for  impacts on health and wellbeing. The resident may be able to make a personal injury claim if she considers that her health has been affected by the landlord’s actions or inaction. This is a legal process, and the resident may wish to seek legal advice if she wants to pursue this option. In accordance with paragraph 42.f. of the Scheme, this issue is more effectively resolved and remedied through the courts. It will not be considered in this report.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of the radiator not heating properly.

  1. The resident’s tenancy agreement outlines the landlord’s obligation to maintain and where appropriate keep in proper working order heating equipment where provided by the landlord.
  2. The landlord’s repair policy says that it aims to complete all appointed repairs within 45 days and at the appointment time originally agreed with the resident. It also says it aims to complete all major repairs within 90 days.
  3. In recent conversation with us, the resident said that she had reported the issues with the radiator prior to 3 January 2024 and had pipe work replaced and problems with the boiler looked at.
  4. The landlord said that it was first made aware of the issues with the radiator on 3 January 2024. There is no evidence available to suggest the opposite and that the resident reported any heating and radiator issues prior to January 2024.
  5. The landlord’s complaint responses said that the radiator was replaced following an inspection by an operative who identified a fault and recommended a replacement. Although we have not seen a copy of the inspection report, the landlord acted appropriately by replacing the radiator in a timely manner from the date the evidence shows the resident reported the issue. Additionally, the landlord’s notes do not show that the resident raised concerns with her health when she reported the radiator taking longer to heat in January 2024, which could have required more urgent action.
  6. Where there is a conflict in the information provided by the parties, we must rely on the available evidence. In this case, the resident was unable to provide evidence that she had contacted the landlord prior to 3 January 2024 to report the issues. Whilst we do not doubt the resident’s account of events, our investigation is limited to investigating based on the evidence we have received.
  7. From the evidence provided, when the resident first reported the issue with the radiator to the landlord, its initial response was appropriate. It logged the relevant repairs and completed the repairs in 41 days, which is within the timescales set out in its repairs policy. Additionally, the resident stated that since the landlord had replaced the radiator the room had been heating well.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme there was no maladministration the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of the radiator not heating properly.