Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council

The Housing Ombudsman investigates complaints about social landlords. When it finds a landlord got things wrong, it makes a finding of "maladministration" — or "severe maladministration" for the most serious failings.

The 2024-25 performance report. The Ombudsman's landlord report for Sandwell covers the 13 cases it decided between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, which produced 38 findings.^[3] It upheld 31 of the 35 findings it counted as maladministration — a rate of 89%, above the national rate of 71% and the 80% for landlords of a similar size and type.^[3] None were severe maladministration, the most serious category.^[3]

What the findings were. The condition of people's homes was the largest area of complaint: all 12 of the property-condition findings were upheld, against a national rate of 73% for that category.^[3] Every one of the 11 complaint-handling findings was upheld too, and 3 of the 4 anti-social behaviour findings.^[3]

Orders, compensation and compliance. Across the year the Ombudsman made 47 orders and 12 recommendations, issued one complaint handling failure order, and recorded £11,270 in compensation.^[3] Every order with a target date that year was complied with on time.^[3]

How the picture has moved. On the Ombudsman's own restated figures, Sandwell's maladministration rate was 42% in 2022-23 and 58% in 2023-24, so it has risen year on year.^[3] In September 2023 the Ombudsman had made a separate finding of severe maladministration against the council, after which the Secretary of State wrote to it about the standard of service to tenants.^[6] The council says it accepts the regulator's findings and is working to improve; the regulator's own view of its homes is in the next section.^[4]

The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) is the government body that checks social landlords meet required standards for safe, decent homes. Since 2024 it has been inspecting social landlords and giving each a consumer grade from C1 (the strongest) to C4.

A grade of C3. On 30 October 2024 the RSH published a regulatory judgement giving Sandwell a consumer standards grade of C3 — meaning serious failings were found and significant improvement is needed.^[1] The judgement was about the Safety and Quality Standard, which covers the condition and safety of tenants' homes, and describes around 27,900 social housing homes — a slightly narrower basis than the Housing Ombudsman's count.^[1]

What the regulator found. The RSH said Sandwell did not have an accurate, up-to-date understanding of the condition of its homes — holding condition data on only about 5% of them — and could evidence the required asbestos surveys on only around 2%.^[1] It found the council had more than 14,000 overdue repairs, over 90% of them not yet assigned for completion, and that while 96% of homes had been inspected for electrical safety, the council could not monitor whether the resulting remedial work was carried out.^[1]

What the council says it is doing. The council said it accepts the regulator's findings and is sorry it fell below the standards.^[4] It reports carrying out condition surveys across its whole stock, putting a new contract in place to clear the repairs backlog, completing 8,891 safety checks, and investing £46.7 million in modernising homes.^[4] The regulator said it was not proposing to use its enforcement powers at that stage and would monitor the council's progress.^[1]

What the grade means for your home. A C3 grade is about standards across the council's stock as a whole, not the state of any one home. It does not decide anything about disrepair in an individual home: if yours has damp, mould, a leak or an unfixed repair, your rights are separate and still apply.^[1]

Whatever a landlord's track record, its legal duties are the same.

Repairs. Under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, Sandwell Council must keep the structure and exterior of your home in repair — the roof, walls, windows and doors — and keep the installations for heating, hot water, gas, electricity, water and sanitation in proper working order. This applies to almost every council tenancy and cannot be signed away in a tenancy agreement.

Fitness for human habitation. Under the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 (section 9A of the 1985 Act), your home must also be fit to live in — free from serious hazards, including damp and mould that could harm your health.

Awaab's Law. Awaab's Law now sets legally binding timescales for social landlords, including councils, to investigate hazards such as damp and mould and make homes safe — the disrepair page sets them out.^[7]

Sandwell's own repair timescales. The council sorts repairs into priorities and publishes target times to attend or complete them — the disrepair page lists them.^[10]

Where to report and complain. Report a repair through the council's repairs service, and make a housing complaint through its two-stage complaints process.^[10][11]