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, or "service failure" for a lesser one.

The 2025-26 performance report. The Ombudsman decided 36 Sandwell cases (not counting those outside its jurisdiction or withdrawn) between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026. Its rate counts service failure too: 55 of the 80 findings within its jurisdiction — 34 maladministration and 21 service failure, with no severe maladministration — a rate of 69%.^[3] That compares with a national rate of 62% and 70% for landlords of a similar size and type.^[3]

What the findings were about. The largest category was responsive repairs: 29 findings, 22 of them maladministration or service failure — a rate of 76%, against 72% nationally and 78% for local authority landlords. All 12 findings in the damp and mould sub-category were maladministration or service failure. Complaint handling was the largest single sub-category, with 25 findings.^[3]

Orders, compensation and compliance. The Ombudsman made 112 orders and 14 recommendations, and issued one complaint handling failure order. All 112 orders that fell due during the year were complied with. It ordered £12,448 in compensation and recommended £1,150 more.^[3]

The trend. The Ombudsman's figures, with 2023-24 adjusted, put the council's rate at 58% across 9 decided cases in 2023-24, and 89% across 13 in 2024-25.^[3] From October 2025 the Ombudsman examined complaint handling in every case, which it says affects how the 2025-26 rates compare with earlier years.^[5]

An earlier severe finding. In September 2023 the Secretary of State wrote to the council after the Ombudsman found severe maladministration in how it handled an anti-social behaviour case, including its failure to consider the resident's vulnerabilities.^[6]

The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) checks that social landlords meet the standards for safe, decent homes, and grades each one it inspects 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 5% of them — and could evidence the required asbestos surveys for only around 2% of relevant buildings.^[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.^[8] Its 2026 annual report for tenants says that by July 2026 it had completed all the required asbestos surveys, cut overdue repairs to under 2,500 — planning to clear them by December 2026 — and held up-to-date condition surveys for 72% of its homes.^[4] It says it sends the regulator monthly updates and expects to be inspected again no later than 2028.^[4] These are the council's own figures.

The regulator's position. The regulator said in 2024 that it was not proposing to use its enforcement powers at that stage and would monitor the council's progress; it has published no later judgement.^[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.^[9]

Sandwell's own repair timescales. The council sorts repairs into priorities and publishes target times to complete them — the disrepair page lists them.^[12]

Where to report and complain. Report a repair online through MySandwell or by phone, and make a housing complaint through the council's two-stage complaints process.^[13][14]