One of the UK’s leading social landlords – Sanctuary Housing

Sanctuary Housing refuse meeting with representatives of 2500+ tenants

Final reply from Sanctuary Housing Independent Complaints Facebook Group to Kate Reynolds, Sanctuary Board members and Sanctuary Group executives (italics added afterwards)

Tues 25th Feb at 10.02

Dear Kate and Sanctuary,

Thank you for your reply.

As the existence of our now 2500+ group demonstrates (in fact the number is nearer 4000 if two other similar Sanctuary Facebook complaint groups are included), your strategy of supporting tenants and residents only when they contact you directly is clearly not working.

Tenants and others join our group as a last resort, when frequent attempts at contacting Sanctuary, their MP or other authorities have failed to resolve the often extremely serious problems. As Sanctuary frequently don’t listen to their tenants or others negatively affected by widespread Sanctuary bad practice, we have become their voice. Your comment that it is not appropriate to meet with people who are not Sanctuary tenants – some of us are – is just one more typical excuse for Sanctuary to avoid confronting reality.

You refer to “revisiting historic complaints” but we made no mention of this. We are more concerned with the widespread and ongoing serious problems that are repeated again and again – year in, year out. These range from the bullying and intimidation of tenants, to poor quality or non-existent repairs to mouldy properties, to continual mistakes with rent payments and a great deal more.

Simon Clark, Group Director of Housing. Willing to meet tenants “unconditionally”?

Our request for a meeting was prompted by Sanctuary’s recent (13th November 2019) Inside Housing comments, which you have chosen to overlook in your reply: ‘Sanctuary’s Mr. Clark strikes a more conciliatory tone, insisting that he is willing to meet members unconditionally. Kate Reynolds, head of external affairs at Sanctuary, adds that there has been a “breakdown of trust” with some tenants and acknowledges that the association “has to work to rebuild it”.’

The above all sounds good and Sanctuary claim to be committed to serving tenants and residents. Yet, in reality, your typically dismissive attitude towards our proposed meeting clearly shows that Sanctuary don’t care. You could hardly make it more obvious.

As requested, we will post your reply on the Facebook group page, along with this response. We are interested in open and honest communication to improve the situation for all concerned. Given the widespread damage to so many people’s lives, we find it extraordinary that Sanctuary remain so insensitive, inflexible and excessively corporate. The large number of resulting complaints from tenants and staff alike can be found on an increasing number of review websites.

Even after being shamefully exposed on national television, Sanctuary still appear to be in denial about how diabolically bad things are for so many tenants and residents.

(New Landlords from Hell, Dispatches, Channel 4, 22nd March 2019. Please see for yourself how bad things have got or search for easily found video clips of the programme, Tim)

We will continue to do our best in supporting tenants and others in any way we can, be it offering emotional support or practical advice such as help in contacting solicitors.

Because we personally have been on the receiving end of Sanctuary’s devastating and inhuman incompetence, we care.

Yours sincerely,

Sanctuary Housing Independent Complaints Group Admins.

Kate Reynolds, Group Head of External Affairs. An odd approach to rebuilding trust with tenants?

Reply from Kate Reynolds of Sanctuary to our initial email approach on Wed 12th Feb, proposing a meeting

Tue 18 Feb at 14:50

Dear Mr Burness, Mr Greensmith, Ms Prime and Ms Charlton-Toye,

Thank you for your email. We appreciate you contacting us directly and welcome the opportunity to respond.

While we recognise that we won’t get everything right, we are determined to resolve issues when there are cases where we have fallen short. Our view is and has always been that if tenants contact us directly, we will look into any current issues they may have. However, we cannot commit to revisiting historic complaints which have already been brought to a conclusion.

While we would be happy to meet with current tenants and discuss present day issues, it would not be appropriate to meet with people who are not Sanctuary tenants.

If you have any current issues or concerns with a Sanctuary property that you are living in, or services that you are receiving from Sanctuary, we would encourage you to provide details so that we can assist you in resolving any outstanding matters.

We support open and transparent engagement, and in that spirit, we would ask that you post this email in full on the Facebook group.

We recognise this will not be the response you are looking for but we strongly feel that we are best able to support our tenants and residents when they contact us directly.

Regards,

Kate Reynolds

Group Head of External Affairs

Deaths, incompetence and lies – the multimillion pound housing associations destroying lives

UK’s housing associations made record operating profits of £3.5 billion in 2017

Change must happen, this is madness.

Housing organizations with charity status are badly damaging thousands of people’s lives.

Some great work is still being done by large UK housing associations but they are now too big and too greedy to function properly. They are accountable to no-one, the regulators are a joke and have been for years. In one way or another, many thousands (most likely tens or hundreds of thousands of people) are being shat on.

This is a crisis and the government is doing nothing. 

Post-Grenfell, the government published a social housing Green Paper in August 2018, which suggested many moves in the right direction. So far, almost none of this has been translated into action.

The mainstream media are not reporting it.

Apart from a few articles here and there (others below), the mainstream media continues to ignore how bad things now are with large housing associations and their outsourced companies, even after the Grenfell Tower social housing tragedy. The big housebuilding HAs have become property developers with a lot of old and crumbling anti-social housing on the side.

New Landlords From Hell, Dispatches Channel 4, March 2019

Link to programme https://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches/on-demand/69156-001

Sanctuary Group, £198 million operating profit and in the region of £3 billion assets

Many social housing campaigners thought that a breakthrough moment may finally have come with the shocking evidence against Sanctuary Housing (one of the biggest and worst) presented on Dispatches, Channel 4, 22nd March 2019. Please see for yourself how bad things have got or search for easily found video clips. Sanctuary Housing Group continue to describe themselves as “One of the UK’s leading providers of housing, care and commercial services…” Leading providers? 

Immediately after the programme, Sanctuary Chief Executive Craig Moule’s responded to the allegation that Sanctuary appeared to have played a part in both the death of a pensioner and the development of a severe respiratory condition in a baby. “When anyone calls our values into question, it hurts.” Values!? This is about people’s lives.

Sanctuary Chief Executive Craig Moule, in denial and on over £350,000 per year

Without any reference to people’s considerable suffering (cases in Cambridgeshire, Nottinghamshire, Cornwall and Aberdeen), Moule then went on to laughably attempt to discredit the programme makers. “It struck us how little the programme makers knew about how housing associations work. It also struck us that they seemed to misunderstand our purpose.” Yet he made no effort to explain what he means by this, let alone present any evidence to support his view. Unfortunately, many folk in the Sanctuary Housing Independent Complaints Group – Countrywide (2300+ members) can immediately recognize this style of communication from Sanctuary Housing. Clueless, dishonest and completely lacking in compassion. Come on Craig and Sanctuary, what’s wrong with you? Do you actually want to appear inhuman!?

Astonishingly, the Regulator of Social Housing found ‘no breaches of standards’ by Sanctuary (Inside Housing, 26.6.19). The shameless denial, corruption and establishment cover-up is breathtaking. 

Patricia Gavighan, died after 11-day boiler repair wait

Pensioner dies in freezing home

“A ‘stressed, angry and cold’ pensioner died of a heart attack following an 11-day wait for her boiler to be repaired, an inquest has heard. Patricia Gavaghan, 80, died at her home, which was maintained by Morgan Sindall, in Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire, on 22 December 2017. She asked a call handler at the firm if she was “meant to sit in her coat” and wait, the court was told. At the time there was an amber weather warning due to a prolonged cold spell. The hearing at Huntingdon Law Courts was told Mrs Gavaghan lived alone in Sycamore Road, in a bungalow owned by Clarion Housing and maintained by Morgan Sindall. Her family claimed the boiler system was more than 15 years old and engineers struggled to get parts to make repairs.” https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-49743535

There is a growing independent facebook complaints group for Clarion tenants (1700+ members) Clarion Tenants Support Group

5-year old girl dies in broken lift

Alexys Brown, died in a broken lift

“Two companies have been fined a total of £1.5m following the death of a five-year-old girl in a disability lift. Alexys Brown died in hospital after putting her head through a broken screen in the lift at her home in Weymouth on 13 August 2015. Synergy Housing (a subsidiary of Aster Group), her family’s landlord, was fined £1m and lift company Orona Ltd was fined £533,000. Both firms pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety regulations by failing to maintain the lift properly. At the end of the two-day hearing at Bournemouth Crown Court, Judge Stephen Climie described Alexys as “beautiful” and “priceless” and said no words of the court could ever compensate her family for their loss.” https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-46874763

Undiscovered dead bodies in sheltered accommodation

“Two dead bodies are claimed to have lain undiscovered in a retirement scheme for months, sparking complaints about “callous” cuts to care support. Neighbours have urged Suffolk County Council to reinstate funding for wardens and sheltered accommodation following the tragedies at Mussidan Place in Woodbridge, which is owned by Flagship Housing. The latest body was found on August 8 after a neighbour noticed the man’s kitchen was infested with flies. Residents believe he had lain there since June, when they first complained about a bad smell. They said they were shocked by the death – but it was not the first to go unnoticed. Another body was found in February. Neighbours said the dead man’s relative told them it had been there since November last year. They said the bodies would have been found sooner if not for budget cuts stripping away wardens who used to check up on residents.” https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/flagship-housing-residents-in-woodbridge-criticise-sheltered-housing-cuts-after-two-deaths-1-6226463

Ceilings collapse in housing association properties around the country, warnings ignored

L&Q tenant’s ceiling collapsed on the morning of his daughter’s birthday – six weeks after first raising the issue and warning this would happen

Record surplus for 2017-18 of £348 million

All over England, this is increasingly common amongst the corporate profit-driven housing associations. This month with L&Q, for example https://www.ilfordrecorder.co.uk/news/housing-complaints-goodmayes-london-quadrant-1-6326741 Inside Housing also reported on this, although they chose not to show the collapsed ceiling but instead, a lovely shiny picture of L&Q offices.

Places For People, £184.5 million operating profit 2017-18

Ceilings fall in with Places For People in Bristol

In May 2018, after having called out the Places For People maintenance team more than thirty times in four years, the ceiling caved in on a support worker and her family in Bristol.

Elderly residents left for 7 months with no ceiling in Ely housing block run by Sanctuary Housing

Elderly residents left with no ceiling for seven months

I’ve previously blogged about Sanctuary tenants having ceilings collapse in on them and this continues. Early this year, the Ely Standard in Cambridge reported:- Ceiling that came crashing down in Ely sheltered housing block for the elderly still hasn’t been repaired SEVEN months on.

Charlie Bissett, whose 92-year-old mother-in-law lives there: “This is completely unacceptable for elderly residents and they are all worried about it. The fire alarm has been going off constantly too – which is quite dangerous for safety purposes because they don’t know when to leave for a fire or not.”

But if so many large housing associations really are this bad, we’d all know about it by now, wouldn’t we? How about the Peabody Trust, a well-respected name in the world of charitable housing groups, originally founded in the 1860s?

Here’s a few reviews on Trustpilot – “Peabody is a joke of a company.” “One star is way too much to rate this” “Shameful. Dreadful to deal with, just a constant loop of them lying that they will take action and come back to you… Do not deal with this company if you can avoid it.” “Unresponsive and disorganized housing association.” “Dreadful customer service and no accountability.” “Hopeless.”

“A picture of what our kitchen wall has looked like for about a year.”

The complaints are much the same from all tenants across the whole sector. Mould and rat-infested properties, bad or non-existent repairs and maintenance, staff who don’t listen, fire alarms not working, destruction of tenants’ property, charges for services not done, inappropriate eviction threats, breaking of data protection laws, general incompetence, lies, lies and more lies

Hyde Housing More of the same in their 2200+ open residents group – Hyde Housing Independent Resident Group

Notting Hill Genesis. Riverside. Catalyst.

They’re all at it, across the whole sector and across the whole country.

Neither government nor media are seriously bothered about these companies shitting on people who are often vulnerable or elderly or disadvantaged in some way – not forgetting the many housing association tenants and their families who, relatively speaking, are none of these. Well done to a couple of MPs who’ve spoken out in Parliament but where are the rest of you? A very large number of you know all about this.

HOUSING ORGANIZATIONS WITH CHARITY STATUS ARE BADLY DAMAGING THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE’S LIVES.

THIS IS A CRISIS AND THE GOVERNMENT IS DOING NOTHING.

THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA ARE NOT REPORTING IT.

Change must happen. Regulate them – maybe break the big ones up? Even more radically, a bit more general honesty and kindness by groups like Sanctuary would be a good start.

If you are in a position to do so in any way, please spread the word, cheers.

Sanctuary Housing exposed – Dispatches Channel 4, 25th March 2019, 8pm

“Datshiane Navanayagam reveals the shocking conditions that tenants of one of Britain’s biggest social landlords are being forced to live in. A year-long investigation finds that Sanctuary Housing left family homes in disrepair and uncovers evidence that this had a critical impact on the health of some of their most vulnerable tenants. As the housing association has grown, official channels of complaint have failed to force it to act reasonably, leaving residents feeling voiceless. In desperation they’ve turned to social media to share their experiences and offer support. Dispatches asks: are housing associations the new landlords from hell?”
Cast & Crew
Reporter Datshiane Navanayagam
Director Lionel Mill
Producer Lionel Mill
Producer Kate Mead

The above taken from online Radio Times

Many of us have been campaigning to expose Sanctuary Housing for 10 years. WELL DONE and THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone involved in the making of this programme.

Earlier blogs

2017 blog Sanctuary Housing – ceilings fall in and nobody cares

2016 blog A nationwide scandal – Sanctuary Housing

2014 (updated 2016) blog Housing regulation complaints – no regulation of service quality!

2014 Sanctuary’s neglect of the elderly and vulnerable

2013 MPs – please stop Sanctuary Housing

2009 (updated 2016) Are Sanctuary Housing above the law?

Facebook group (2000 members), help and support for all those struggling with this terrible company:-

Sanctuary Housing Independent Complaints Group – Countrywide

Sanctuary Housing – ceilings fall in and nobody cares

Ceiling collapses after two weeks in new Sanctuary house, late 2017

“I was heavily pregnant… had to be the worst thing to happen to me..”

“Sanctuary Housing – UK Leading Provider of Affordable and Social Housing”

A tax-exempt housing group making £40-50 million per year, fully supported by the government.

See earlier blogs A nationwide scandal – Sanctuary Housing and Housing association complaints – no regulation of service quality!

Since the Grenfell Tower tragedy, there’s been increasing mutterings about the horrendous state of UK social housing but still no exposure of large, unregulated, (existing regulation is a bad joke) rip-off housing associations like Sanctuary.

COME ON MPs AND MEDIA PEOPLE, WHERE ARE YOU? Preoccupied with Brexit, all you MPs? (A few spoke out in a newspaper article earlier this year, no action since) Not sexy enough for you, mainstream journalists? (A few have scratched the surface this year, well done Channel 4 Dispatches on lack of regulation, full marks to John Harris for articles in The Guardian but why no follow-ups since?) WHAT ARE YOU ALL WAITING FOR, ANOTHER GRENFELL, OR SOMETHING SIMILAR? With current government policy, the problem is not going to go away. How much longer can you all ignore this?

August 2018 update: Social housing Green Paper published. Nice words, the government has to look like they’re doing something after the Grenfell tragedy. Unfortunately and predictably, absolutely nothing about the required large-scale building of genuinely affordable homes. Will the proposals in the paper lead to REAL ACTION TO STOP THE ROT with rogue social landlords like Sanctuary? There are massive systemic problems caused by, amongst other things, government neglect for many years. Incompetent and often diabolical treatment of vulnerable people, including the elderly and disabled, is common. Some recent media coverage of rip-off profit-driven housing associations – another Channel 4 Dispatches (Getting Rich from the Housing Crisis) featured Hyde Housing in July and there was a recent piece in the Observer featuring L&Q (London and Quadrant) – Raw sewage, no water – but service costs still rise for L&Q tenants

Two CBEs on the Sanctuary Group Board

Sanctuary Chief Executive, David Bennett. £356K CBE (retired in January 2019)

Chair of Group Housing Committee, Trudi Elliott, CBE

 

There are over 2000 people across several independent Sanctuary Housing facebook complaint groups. There are 1600 in the most active (and closed) group. Help and support for anyone struggling with this terrible company – Sanctuary Housing Independent Complaints Group – Countrywide

Hyde Housing is another staggeringly incompetent and corrupt housing group – nearly 1800 in the residents open facebook complaints group – Hyde Housing Independent Resident Group

More pictures of a collapsed ceiling recently posted in another fb group (one young woman and a 4 year old living in the home) this time for Riverside Housing Association – Riverside Housing Association / Evolve Complaints, Comments and Suggestions

Plenty of serious complaints on the Peabody housing association fb page too – Peabody

Social housing – particularly when owned by large housing associations – appears to be collapsing. Sometimes literally. These organizations are too big, too greedy and frequently inhuman. My summary of Sanctuary bad practice, from a 2014 previous blog of mine seems to cover most of it:-

And another…

1. Illegal and morally questionable practices.
2. Repairs being done very badly, or not at all.
3. Many properties in very bad condition, sometimes unfit for human habitation.
4. Complaints going missing and being ignored.
5. Blatant lying and dishonest manipulation of language in order to deflect complaints.
6. Bullying, harassment and bad treatment of tenants, including the elderly and disabled.
7. Inadequate soundproofing.
8. Bad communication and a lack of consultation with communities.
9. The lowering of service standards as a result of Sanctuary takeovers.
10. Bullying and mismanagement of Sanctuary’s own staff.

 

A small sample of recent Sanctuary complaints:-

 

 

A nationwide scandal – Sanctuary Housing

Time to expose this relentlessly appalling organization and others like it.

See 2019 blog Deaths, incompetence and lies – the multimillion pound housing associations destroying lives

It’s now 2016 and as you can see below, Sanctuary Housing are still up to their tricks. There is no effective regulation stopping them, so they can keep getting away with it – the likes of the Homes and Communities Agency and the Housing Ombudsman have no serious interest in complaints. This is a nationwide corporate rip-off scandal (so far almost entirely ignored by the mainstream media) if ever there was one. I have heard that some of the other large housing groups can be just as bad e.g. Hyde Housing, Affinity Sutton, Metropolitan and others. Perhaps all part of the Conservative government’s long-term plans to privatise social housing? Run it all into the ground and bring in non-affordable affordable homes and more private landlords to save the day? And generally make the housing crisis worse? In the meantime people are suffering – big time.

If you have had serious problems with Sanctuary Housing or Sanctuary Group, please join the independent facebook group, from which the edited posts here are taken. It offers support and advice from others who have suffered at the hands of Sanctuary Housing – the incompetence, the frequent breaking of tenancy agreements, the threats, the lies and all the rest of it. (To Sanctuary staff who genuinely do their best, keep up the good work. I know from my own experience that it’s not an easy area to work in.) The group now has over 600 members:-

Sanctuary Housing Independent Complaints Group – Countrywide (over 800 members as at December 2016)

Since I first came across them in 2008, it has become obvious that thousands of people (including the elderly and vulnerable) have had their lives ruined by this frequently uncaring and incompetent organization. Unbelievably, Sanctuary is a registered charity – so they don’t pay tax. Even more unbelievably, Chief Executive David Bennett was made a CBE for services to social housing in 2015. Given the Sanctuary performance shown below, perhaps he is now due for a knighthood?

Sanctuary Chief Executive, David Bennett. £340K and a CBE in 2015 – for THIS!? (see below)

Sanctuary Group make millions. For the year 2013-2014, the landlord reported a surplus of £42.6 million. (Inside Housing 1.10.14)

In one way or another, thousands of people in their 100,000 homes are being shafted by this company. Do everything you can, an e-mail to Watchdog achieves nothing by itself. Go through their complaints procedure until you are completely satisfied, or write to your MP and make sure they follow it through, contact local and national media with detailed documentation, go to Citizens Advice, Environmental Health, local councillors. Try to stay calm and strong, you are not alone! Demand that Sanctuary stop causing you and others so much suffering. Please do it people, don’t let them bully you.

Here is the link to the facebook group again:- Sanctuary Housing Independent Complaints Group – Countrywide

A typical complaint on Twitter

A SMALL SAMPLE OF COMPLAINTS FROM JANUARY AND FEBRUARY 2016

“We beat them once in court, now winning again. They are only interested in their bank balance not our children’s safety”

“I was waiting 12 years (in the end I gave up and moved out) and they blamed me for breathing moisture/being in flat all day….I worked 65 hours a week so how did they figure that out! They are now charging me for repairs as it was “my fault”. If the damp issues were my fault, why do almost all Sanctuary properties have problem with damp and my new home that I’ve lived in for a year now doesn’t?…..funny that x”

“Still no hot water as a tiny piece of metal had pierced the hot water pipe when it went bang… Communication was rubbish the whole time me having to chase them all this while having a 3 yr old..wouldn’t even put us in a bnb!! Sanctuary housing do not care.”

“Yesterday I found out I may need my entire ground floor digging up and replacing because there may not be a membrane down or it could have corroded. Also had to call them back because despite new parts on my hot water tank, the hot water is off and still turning on all night because something isn’t doing its job properly. The boiler was serviced a few weeks ago too and had a new seal but now it’s making a whistling tune when it fires up. Very nice, but I worry about carbon monoxide because I’ve been poisoned before. I don’t need to worry about something that should be working properly.”

“I went 13 months before they decided to replace my boiler and then they only did it as my health visitor phoned them!”

“This is the worst housing association. I have been without water for 4 days which they don’t think it’s an emergency. I call burst pipes emergency not only that they have put charges on the rent an extra few quid a week coz they planted a few flowers somewhere. I say somewhere coz nobody as seen them and they charge for window cleaning and I’ve lived here for 3 years and not once have anyone come round to clean them how are they getting away with treating people like this it’s a f***ing joke.”

“Anyone know a contact for these useless people regarding a compensation claim? I’ve called 3 times and keep being told to call the repairs dept……”

“Yeah we have damp in every room in this house especially up stairs we also have plaster dust in the house everywhere in every room all over in all the carpets and I mean absolutely everywhere, in and on everything even in the house wee have all been breathing it in for the last 10 YEARS and we all have infections from it and it’s been here for ten years.”

“So have become a sanctuary tenant after a mutual exchange.. Wish I hadn’t bothered!! What a waste of time totally incompetent company. It’s been a farce from start to finish! Really annoyed at the amount of repairs that need doing that they fail to acknowledge. Yet are quick to inform me that if I dare to install an electric shower, at my cost, they will have to inspect it to make sure it’s done properly and looks nice.. Yet the bathroom it’s going into is really old, with blown tiles hanging off and massive chips out of the bath.. But that’s ok?? F***ing idiots.”

“Sanctuary has served eviction notice on a mum with 2 young children. Heartless and shocking. Calls itself a charity. Calls itself Sanctuary. Oh and it’s jobsworths being pedantic…. We have contacted Sanctuary Housing, local MP and submitted homeless application with council. Looks like they will be sent to a B&B. Sanctuary have been awful.”

“Apparently Sanctuary believe this is not something that needs addressing as soon as possible, despite 2 young children and myself living in this with asthma…”

“Apparently sanctuary believe this is not something that needs addressing as soon a possible dispite 2 young children and my self living in this with asthma …. I don’t know what to say I’m upset and angered by there lack of help… I won’t give up I just hate it when they put pressure on you and try to make you look like an idiot … I’m not that clued up on everything to know what’s what. This place is tearing me apart I literally sit there and cry because no one seems to do anything and how this place is practically falling to bits around me and I can’t get out. I’m already in touch with the mp and it doesn’t sound like there is much he can do from what he said … I will ask about the windows …. to top it off we have storage heaters too so it is unbelievably expensive …. we have many other issues with this place too … it’s like a living hell“

 “Good luck getting anything done with them… go straight to your mp … honestly we have been fighting for so long and nothing has been done it’s not worth the stress just place a complaint and maintenance request over the phone and keep all of the reference numbers logged down in a diary and take them to your mp or local housing office. It’s really not worth our time to go through sanctuary. They simply couldn’t care less about any of their tenants or their own contracts.“

Justice for Ernest John Coles – the crimes of Sanctuary Care?

This document has been received and signed for in the following offices:

Devon County Council, The Police, The Doctor involved, Sanctuary Care and CQC head office.
House of Commons and NHSLA, pending, not yet signed for…

Letter of Notification of a Pre-Action Protocol for the Resolution of Clinical Disputes
Date of claim: 20th October 2015.
Copied to the NHS Litigation Authority
Associated bodies
Rachel Chalmers, DC for vulnerable adults Rachel Doyle, CQC Inspector
CQC Enquiry Number – 2186209966
Claim
Failure to comply with the Health and social care Act 2008 Regulation 20 Breach of duty of care to both Mr and Mrs Coles
Claimant:
Ernest John Coles of 7 Lichfield Road, Redhills, Exwick, EX4 2EU
on behalf of his late wife Marguerite Coles who passed away in Greenslades Nursing home on the 9th of December 2013
Defendants:
Responsible for the care of his late wife and failing to provide information.
Mark Mc Carthy, Head of Sanctuary Care
Natasha Knowles, business manager for Sanctuary Care
David Berenski previous Manager of Greenslades nursing home Alison Robertson Previous manageress of Greensalades Nursing home Dr.Carl Bracey, responsible doctor for Greenslades Nursing home, Foxhayes Surgery
Phil Norrey, CEO Devon County Council
…………………………….


Ernest John Coles

On the 25th of August 2015 a letter was sent to Mark McCarthy, head of Sanctuary Care requesting an explanation to why the care plan of the late Marguerite Coles states that it has been “rewritten.”
The letter was received in their Worcester office and the signature documented by the post office is “Gormley.”
It was also acknowledged by email to myself but not to Mr Coles. Email content :

Dear Ms Wakefield,
Thank you for your email dated 25 September.
I am emailing to confirm receipt and to assure you that Mr Coles’ letter of 25 August is being dealt with professionally and that a response will be sent within the 30 days that was requested.
Kind regards, Natasha

Natasha Knowles BA (Hons), PGCE, CPE – Law
Business Manager
Sanctuary Care Limited
Cameo House, Chamber Court, Castle Street, Worcester, WR1 3ZQ.
Tel: 01905 334243 (Internal: 34243)
Fax: 01905 21019
Email: Natasha.Knowles@sanctuary-housing.co.uk
“Keeping kindness at the heart of our care.”
Sanctuary Care is part of Sanctuary Group

Unfortunately they have failed to act professionally and failed to deliver an explanation on the deadline given. I have followed them up with a phone call and I was informed that the lady dealing with this matter is on annual leave and that no one is covering her duties.
This case is as Im sure you are aware, a matter of public interest and grave concern.
In order to restore faith in the public services provided by all of the organizations involved in this matter there needs to be a thorough investigation in to this case. If the handling of this case is a reflection of the standard of care given to the vulnerable people that you are all responsible for protecting then it sheds huge concern over the services provided.

Mr Coles is seeking further specialist legal advice in this matter as he is the legal representative of his late wife and has a grant of probate in safekeeping. As it is a crime to falsify medical notes and care plans we expect your professional response in this investigation of serious concern and provide us with a satisfactory outcome in order to restore the trust of the public who pay for the system in place.

We look forward to resolving this matter as quickly as possible as you are already responsible for the mistreatment of Mr. Coles as he is in his own right a vulnerable adult. I would also like to remind you that both Mr and Mrs Coles both gave up their retirement to work voluntarily for the NHS and to be repaid by society in this way is unforgivable and will not be forgotten.

A response from this pre-action letter is required within the standard time frame of 20 days by all involved without exception.

Samantha Wakefield

Facebook page Justice for Ernest John Coles

Complaints about Sanctuary Housing on Facebook

“Stand your ground with them and don’t let them bully you.”

“Obviously if they have the money to build lots of brand new houses why the bloody hell can’t they maintain the ones they’ve got?”

“Sanctuary Housing left me without a boiler for 12 weeks in the height of winter.”“The houses all seem to have the same issues……cold, mould, crap inadequate windows yet told constantly its the tenant’s fault… it’s the only place I’ve ever lived where we’ve had this!!!!! They shouldn’t be allowed to get away with this.” “Your tenant’s handbook is king…. read it and use their own words to hang them…. put in the time to look up your rights and hit them with the contract you signed and they are contracted to deliver.” “One of the guys told me their housing surveyors are useless, they have no training or experience to say whether certain jobs need doing.” “Profit made is put in to new houses so their stock grows as well as the rent income. … they let all properties fall to disrepair and hope you do your own repairs…. you’re just the cash cows to make them bigger and the government throw even more of your taxes to them … to add insult to injury.” “One of their workers told me he was leaving because even the staff get treated like crap!” “If you miss the rent by a couple of days they are on your back wanting to know why. Sanctuary sucks, they are shit at everything, they want exposing in the newspapers, and I intend to do just that if need be.”

To any Sanctuary Housing and Sanctuary Group employees who may be reading

There’s around 11,000 of you I believe – does none of this bother you? I know Sanctuary does SOME good or even great work (I’ve worked in supported housing, care and related fields myself, so have some idea of the problems) but something is badly wrong. Comments welcome.

Facebook groups and pages for discussion, information and practical help – run by tenants and others who have suffered appalling and often illegal treatment from Sanctuary – YOU ARE NOT ALONE!

Sanctuary Housing Independent Complaints Group – Countrywide

Also

Sanctuary Housing tenants 

Sanctuary Housing/shambles

Sanctuary Housing Banbury residents group 

Justice for Ernest John Coles

Or alternatively…

Sanctuary Housing

November 26

You could become the chair of our National Resident Scrutiny Panel! Not long left to apply, closing date 30 November: http://bit.ly/1qiJeqn

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  Steve Stann But do they let anyone on who thinks Sanctuary is a totally crap Landlord?

  Yesterday at 12:27am
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    Sanctuary Housing Hi Steve Stann, I’m afraid the closing date for applications was 30 November, but keep an eye out for future vacancies.

    22 hours ago

Sanctuary Group’s new chairman, PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) and corporate Britain

New Chair Jonathan Lander (ex-PwC) and David Bennett, Chief Executive of Sanctuary

As the Sanctuary Housing Facebook page continues to regularly delete large numbers of complaints (many of them serious and long-standing, others complaining of Sanctuary Housing Association’s general incompetence and/or fascist tendencies in one way or another) all appears to be well at the top of the corporate world of Sanctuary Group.

Last month it was announced that Jonathan Lander, a former senior partner with internationally huge accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), is the new group Chair. Smiles from Mr. Lander and Chief Executive David Bennett in the press release, it’s all jolly good news. Bennett said: “Sanctuary is known for its exemplary governance (many tenants will be asking what planet he’s on – the organization on the front line is often a total shambles at best) and these new appointments ensure the group board continues to have the skills and experience required to oversee our complex organisation.”

Lander said he was “enthusiastic” about working with Bennett and the board “to deliver customer-focused services that represent real value for money”. There’s a good few thousand elderly, disabled and vulnerable people who are being badly ripped-off (or who have been abused in other ways) by Sanctuary who might have something to say about that last comment. Please see other blogs here for many personal accounts, details and newspaper reports of overcharging, nationwide abuse and neglect, cheating, bullying, lies, bad services, incompetent contractors and substandard properties left to rot for years.

On 2nd October, there was further shuffling at Sanctuary with the appointment of Elwyn Roberts (also ex-PwC) as the new Chair of the Sanctuary Audit Committee. Steve Wood, head of Sanctuary Care resigned the following day, Sanctuary now has him listed as Director of Property.

PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers), “independent” auditors to Sanctuary Housing Association and just about every other big company in the UK and America

As can be seen in Sanctuary Group’s financial statement for 2013-2014, PwC are Sanctuary’s independent auditors. Hang on a bit… two ex-PwC men are now at the very top of Sanctuary, Lander having been a senior partner until 2008. Exactly how independent is that? (KPMG, another government-linked massive firm, have since become Sanctuary Group’s auditors… Tim, 2017)

Elwyn Roberts, also ex-PwC, new Chair of Sanctuary’s Audit Committee

PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) is one of the Big Four accountancy firms who between them carry out around 90% of all audits for FTSE 350 companies. They are absolutely massive in the UK (see pwc.co.uk), America and internationally. “In the 2014 financial year, PwC firms provided services to 417 companies in the Fortune Global 500 and 462 in the FT Global 500… For the year ending 30 June 2014, PwC’s gross revenues were US$34 billion, up 6%.” (see pwc.com). However, in 2011 they were heavily criticized by the House of Lords for not drawing attention to the risks that led up to the banking meltdown in 2008:- “It may be that the Big Four carried out their duties properly in the strictly legal sense, but we have to conclude that, in the wider sense, they did not do so.” PwC were particularly singled out for not drawing attention to the risks of the Northern Rock business model.

In 2012, the Accountancy and Actuarial Discipline Board (AADB) of the UK fined PwC a record £1.4m for “very serious” misconduct  over its audit of JP Morgan Securities. At the time it was the heaviest fine ever given to a professional accountancy firm in the UK. Some comments on the above article:- “Auditors are so conflicted in their relationship with clients it is a joke.”, “Add at least one zero to the fine and it might start to be meaningful.”, “The elites are just letting themselves off… Theft!!”.

Corrupt and wrong, too big, too greedy. And, as revealed in The Great Tax Robbery: How Britain Became a Tax Haven For Fat Cats and Big Business by former tax-inspector Richard Brooks, unlikely to change. When the government (and opposition) considers any change in financial law, it consults PwC as part of the process.

Current questioning of PwC integrity in recent over-estimation of Tesco profits by £250 million 

Or rather a lot in PwC’s case

Right now, the integrity of PwC is once again being questioned in an ongoing investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority. “PwC has been Tesco’s auditor for over 30 years. For that service, Tesco paid PwC £10.4m in the last financial year – plus another £3.6m for other consultancy work. Of the 10 directors on the supermarket’s board… two are ex-PwC… Mark Armour, a non-executive director, and Ken Hanna, chair of the company’s own audit committee.”

Sanctuary Group – an exempt registered charity rip-off and everything that is wrong with greedy and hypocritical corporate Britain today

Craig Moule, Finance Director

Sanctuary Group is very fond of telling the world how successful it is, particularly financially. “The 95,000-home landlord has reported one of the highest levels of gearing – borrowing in relation to assets held – in the sector…  ‘in line’ with the landlord’s business plan and treasury policy. The landlord reported a surplus of £42.6m, down from £54.5m, from a turnover of £592.3m and built 1,481 new homes during the year.” (Inside Housing 1.10.14) There had been earlier reports of a £72 million surplus last year but this apparently included assets from the takeover of Cosmopolitan, which I believe have since been discounted. No doubt PwC are doing their job, legitimately or otherwise. (KPMG, another government-linked massive firm, have since become Sanctuary Group’s auditors… Tim, 2017)

 

The privitization of housing stock has happened quietly over the last thirty years and more. Large housing associations have become greedy money-making machines. All Sanctuary care about is money and building their property empire, make no mistake. They are right in there at the heart of the government, the financial establishment and even the Church of England. Local councils also seem to be quick to support Sanctuary, rather than those suffering as a result of their countless bad practices – in fact Sanctuary seem to be good at buying off all sorts of people. The publicity machine is often grotesquely dishonest. Sanctuary are a classic example of the amoral screw-you capitalism that has gradually taken hold over the last 10-15 years and longer. They do some good, offer some good services and help some people and communities – one would hope so with the millions of pounds they have and 11,000 staff. However, if more Sanctuary tenants were middle-class – with money to defend themselves (few Sanctuary tenants now qualify for legal aid) and/or with better education and/or more self-respect – Sanctuary would not last 5 minutes. There would be an outrage, as there should be right now.

To anyone out there who has been genuinely helped by Sanctuary – great stuff, you might be wondering what the fuss is about. All things considered though, this shambolic, scandalous, useless, uncaring, arrogant, rip-off corporate monstrosity of a company should be shut down immediately.

Fully supported by the government, Sanctuary’s tax-free, registered charity, “business model” stinks. Sanctuary are the lowest of the very low for making massive profits while continuing to abuse and exploit many poor and vulnerable people in our society. 

(Chief Executive David Bennett was made a CBE for services to social housing in the 2015 New Year’s Honours list – an absolute disgrace.)

Housing association complaints – no regulation of service quality!

This updated blog post on housing association complaints is for anyone who has had serious problems with housing association complaints, Sanctuary Housing and Sanctuary Group in particular. For more on serious complaints see 2019 blog Deaths, incompetence and lies – the multimillion pound housing associations destroying lives also 2016 post A nationwide scandal – Sanctuary Housing and the original 2009 post Are Sanctuary Housing Above The Law? and others here.

If you have had serious problems with Sanctuary Housing or Sanctuary Group, please join the independent facebook group Sanctuary Housing Independent Complaints Group – Countrywide, which has over 800 members (December 2016). It offers support and advice from others who have suffered at the hands of Sanctuary Housing – the incompetence, the frequent breaking of tenancy agreements, the threats, the lies and all the rest of it.

The information below is also relevant for complaints about other sometimes shockingly bad, usually very large, housing associations. Hyde Housing, Affinity Sutton, Metropolitan and Orbit are some that I have heard mentioned.

If you are reading this, you may already be familiar with the official procedure for housing association complaints, including Sanctuary’s. This consists of firstly trying to sort things out at a local level, then going through the housing association three-stage complaints procedure, then contacting a designated person (MP or local councillor). If all else fails, contact the housing ombudsman. In reality, for a large number of reasons, this process is not working for a very large number of people. The endless bureaucracy can be a complete nightmare and housing associations will often use every trick in the book to avoid taking responsibility for their poor services and sometimes diabolical treatment of vulnerable people.

An attempt to expose Sanctuary Group’s bad practices

Towards the end of 2013 (prompted by the news that registered charity Sanctuary had made a “surplus” of £72 million – this was apparently later revised down to £54.5 million, once the acquisition of Cosmopolitan had been taken out of the equation) – I sent out a very carefully-worded physical letter to 34 contacts: Inside Housing, Private Eye, The Guardian, Homes and Communities Agency, 38 Degrees, Bureau of Investigative Journalism, Taxpayers Alliance, Shelter, the Public Accounts Committee, two Commons Select Committees, the then Housing Minister Mark Prisk and 11 other MPs. I focused on the following:-

1. Illegal and morally questionable practices.
2. Repairs being done very badly, or not at all.
3. Many properties in very bad condition, sometimes unfit for human habitation.
4. Complaints going missing and being ignored.
5. Blatant lying and dishonest manipulation of language in order to deflect complaints.
6. Bullying, harassment and bad treatment of tenants, including the elderly and disabled.
7. Inadequate soundproofing.
8. Bad communication and a lack of consultation with communities.
9. The lowering of service standards as a result of Sanctuary takeovers.
10. Bullying and mismanagement of Sanctuary’s own staff.

Under each category I selected a few quotes from the 500+ comments on the blog Are Sanctuary Housing above the law?. I tried to include (nearly) everyone who had contributed up to that point. Although yet again there was no media interest, I had two lengthy replies, one from the Homes and Communities Agency and one from Margaret Hodge of the government’s influential Public Accounts Committee.

Replies from the Homes And Communities Agency (the social housing regulator, mainly concerned with financial regulation) 

Email: mail@homesandcommunities.co.uk  Website: http://homesandcommunities.co.uk

Postal address: Referrals and Regulatory Enquiries Team, Homes and Communities Agency, 1^st Floor, Lateral, 8 City Walk, Leeds LS11 9AT

Initially, the following reply gave me some hope:- “Thank you for your letter, sent to the Homes And Communities Agency and other organisations, containing a number of allegations about Sanctuary Housing Association… (We have) now considered the information you have provided and would like to invite you or others who have experienced difficulties to provide us with further information.” Carole Harrison, Referrals and Regulatory Enquiries Team, Homes and Communities Agency, 28.10.13

Several Sanctuary tenants sent extensive details of very serious complaints soon after – they were completely dismissed. On behalf of many tenants and others who have been badly treated by Sanctuary, I decided to have another go myself. In early 2015 I sent a carefully presented 80+ page document with extensive evidence (text, photos and newspaper articles which taken together represented 150+ Sanctuary tenants around the country) of illegal and immoral practices to a number of “authorities” and media. This included quotes from tenant-run Sanctuary facebook groups and detailed evidence of a fraud against the Scottish Housing Regulator by Sanctuary in Scotland.

The second reply from the Homes and Communities Agency was arrogant and completely dismissive. Why did they bother asking for further information if they obviously had no interest whatsoever?

Reply from Margaret Hodge MP and the Public Accounts Committee

Email: pubaccom@parliament.uk  Website: http://www.parliament.uk/pac

Postal address: Committee of Public Accounts, House of Commons, 7 Millbank, London SW1P 3JA

Margaret Hodge MP, Chair of the P.A.C. in 2013

“My committee retains a strong interest in how the system of social housing provision as a whole is operating and I am grateful for the information you have provided… thank you for drawing these matters to my attention.” Margaret Hodge then went on to say that “the Homes and Communities Agency does not actively monitor social housing provider performance against, or compliance with, the consumer standards, responsibility for which rests with the Boards of social housing providers” Margaret Hodge, Public Accounts Committee, 6.12.13

Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but this is confirmation by the government that following on from the abolition of housing inspectors at the Audit Commission…

THERE IS NOW NO GOVERNMENT REGULATION OF SOCIAL HOUSING FOR THE QUALITY OF SERVICES PROVIDED TO TENANTS.

A selection of June 2016 tenant posts from the 700-strong Sanctuary Housing Independent Complaints Group on facebook

“They are useless! Our house flooded today and none of them wanted to come help!”, “We get a newsletter and it seems to be filled with happy, content tenants. Not sure where they get these people from but it’s certainly not in any Sanctuary house I’ve ever known”, “I am appalled with sanctuary housing! If anyone is offered a house through them avoid at all costs!!…this is beyond a joke and i will make sure everyone is aware of how sanctuary actually treat their tenants!”, “So, adaptations were requested in February for my disabled three year old. They were signed off by sanctuary on March 28th but…. nothing. I’ve been calling for 10 weeks and each time I’m told they will send an urgent email to the housing officer but still nothing. My little girl can’t walk, they knew she was having surgery in March and would be in a wheelchair”, “I feel like I’ve been backed up against a brick wall, the bullying tactics sanctuary use”, “Today I heard that Sanctuary have taken over Housing 21. Why are they still taking more on when they can’t get the stock they have in decent shape?”

The relentless Sanctuary corporate PR machine paints a different picture

From a June 2016 press release:- “Over 85,000 residents across England and Scotland have benefited from community investment and support from Sanctuary Group during the last financial year. The leading housing and care provider invested £1.55 million in community initiatives during 2015/ 16 to make a difference in communities nationwide. Under five strategic themes – employment, education, skills and training; health and well-being; community safety and infrastructure; environment and financial inclusion – Sanctuary’s investment has helped support more than 600 community initiatives with over 300 community groups…. Another key commitment for the Group is helping to reduce social isolation, particularly amongst vulnerable residents. 830 people have benefited through Sanctuary’s funding in the last year to help address loneliness and create more opportunities for people to feel more connected to their community.”

Why I am still writing blogs about Sanctuary Housing

Even though I wasn’t a Sanctuary tenant myself, I had my life temporarily destroyed by Sanctuary’s useless, uncaring, arrogant and disgusting mismanagement back in 2007 and 2008. Intitially, it was all about an anti-social neighbour and non-existent soundproofing but the main problem soon became the utterly diabolical management of Sanctuary Housing. A total of eight employees (including Chief Executive David Bennett) and other contractors showed themselves up with various combinations of incompetence, arrogance, blatant lying, blatant bullying and plain negligence. They lied and lied to our MP and the police, both of whom quickly saw through them. In the meantime, I lost my relationship, my home and almost my sanity. Months later, after threats from Sanctuary managers, I started a blog called Are Sanctuary Housing above the law?  As can be seen there, this company does an awful lot of harm to an awful lot of people. I have worked in supported housing, care homes and homeless hostels myself, so I have a pretty good idea of the difficulties that Sanctuary often have to deal with. They do SOME great work with people and communities, SOME of their properties are as good as the glossy Sanctuary PR pics. But they are also failing large numbers of people in countless ways and regularly trying to cover it up. In my opinion they have simply got too big and too greedy to function properly. Eight years on and with the help of the government and support from the Church of England, they are still expanding their property empire of 95,000 homes whilst badly letting many, many tenants and others down. No-one is stopping Sanctuary, a rogue housing association if ever there was one, or organizations like them.

(Sanctuary’s Chief Executive David Bennett was made a CBE for services to social housing in the 2015 New Year’s Honours list – an absolute disgrace.)