Sovereign Housing Association Reviews 132

Sovereign Housing are not fit for purpose. They now house mentally deranged people in their properties who then proceed to harass and verbally abuse other tenants making them seriously unwell. They do nothing about these people whatsoever and show no duty of care to the residents who are being affected. Sovereign should not be allowed to rent properties to anyone. A completely appalling housing association who couldn’t care less about any of their tenants.

Moved into a Sovereign House in May 2025. Was advised that some polystyrene ceiling tiles would be removed prior to my moving in - they were not.

Some plastering needed doing so booked a plasterer in for June, upon further inspection he advised the room would need fully rerendering. Booked a surveyor to survey full property. Was advised whole property needed replastering…

No replastering booked til Council got back with regards to what plaster could be used due to building being listed….

No further works til asbestos check (although its all on the register)

No replastering til polystyrene tiles removed (which should have been done before May)

Polystyrene tiles being removed tomorrow 3rd Oct (after chasing since May)

Called to ask when plastering us being done but constantly advised 3 different people are dealing with it, first Terry, then Steve, then a Jackie…. Firstly Terry was away on holiday (sept) Steve was dealing with it but Terry back 22nd… w/C 22nd Terry back but Jackie dealing with it, no contact….. call again; Steve awaiting tile removal (booked fir 3rd) but no plastering booked in…. Steve away on holiday, needs him to sign it off, not back ril 14th Oct……

My daughter continues to sleep on a mattress on the floor as her room will need a cabin bed due to the size of the room so cant get that til plastering done & carpets laid….

Moved in in May its now Oct & we’re no closer to living in a habitable condition!

I slept more comfortably in the Afghan desert in thr Summer than i have here in a Sovereign House!!

Steer clear if at all possible!!

Sovereign are not fit for purpose!!

You dont need me just look at the rest of the reviews ,

Huge profit off the service charges and rent for no/bad services;

I am a shared ownership “customer” of Sovereign. They make ENORMOUS profit off this scheme and do absolutely nothing to help you when you are in the house. Check the published figures for their financials. They charge astronomical service fees for terribly managed communal areas. The communal lawn got so overgrown with weeds I actually sent them a photograph of me standing in them and them towering above my head. I received zero response. Zero. They did not give a rats arse.

Bad handling of tenant issues:
I raised a query with them about a neighbour parking their huge branded work van (in their allocated space) which blocked sunlight to my kitchen and took up the entire view. I asked them if they could consider asking them to park it elsewhere given there is a lot off off road parking near the houses and it breaches clauses in the lease for being so big, and it was having a real impact on the enjoyment of their neighbours property. They called the neighbour, the neighbour posted an aggressive post on Facebook about it, saying I was trying to “stop her husband earning a living”….then sovereign emailed me back saying they “couldn’t stop them earning a living”…are you for real?! The response was ridiculous, they just said they wouldn’t enforce the clause. When I responded asking if any of the other clauses were allowed to be breached I didn’t get a response…TERRIBLE handling of a query which was genuine.

Unfair rent increases:
Rent has gone up by over 30% in the past 3 years. There is NO CAP on what they will increase it by, and the services have not changed. They OVERCHARGE on services and then keep the money in their account all year, then are forced to refund it later on…could have been accruing interest in my bank account but ok.

Mis-selling:
The sales process was full of lies and mistruths. They pretended not to know about things happening in the local area, told me that the factories nearby would not interrupt my life and I wouldn’t notice them - it’s knocked huge value off the house and I can’t have my windows open at night for the 24/7 noise, which the council are not dealing with effectively. Sovereign told me that no more factories were allowed to be built that close to the house - two more have gone up within the same vicinity.

OH and part way through the sales process I realised that the floor plans didn’t match the garden space, and sovereign had signed off this new build from the developers with an entire bin collection point MISSING. When I pointed it out they had to get the developers to fix it and it delayed my sale completion by 2 weeks. It reduced the size of my garden by about 4-2ft (which is a lot considering how small the garden is)- they would not review the valuation based on that. So I did not get to buy what I had been shown, and I was too late I to the process to back out.

I feel trapped in this house because I have fixed my mortgage, but the real issue is that whilst I am here the rent rates increase year on year on year with NO improvement to the shoddy services. Can’t even manage issues between their tenants effectively. Customer service has been shocking.

Then the resell procedure is full of hidden costs and trap doors…cannot wait to be rid of this awful company.

DO NOT USE THEM. THEY ARE TERRIBLE AT SERVICE AND DO NOT OPERATE FAIRLY.

Utterly reprehensible the way they behave. Good housing left for ruin. Called multiple times to inform them of issues at address in Hertfordshire but now the unoccupied house has been left to decay.

The contact centre staff was not interested in helping. As I had a water leak issue from a neighbours property, but it did cause damage to my property.No workman ever came back to give myself a update when the neighbours issue was repaired. As no one was interested in the damage that it caused to my home. No one could be bothered to read any shift notes, not even the property team could even be bothered to reply back .Not even Within their 10 day time frame, that they set themselves. They all hid behind the GDPR excuse. It was Only when I said I was going to write to Mark Washer,CEO.To inform himself about the issue.(Which I have done before, and will easily do it again) That they then arranged for the damage in my home to be repaired. A poor Lack of communcation.They are only interested in their Salaries and bonuses, and not for the very tenants that they are here to serve.

my overall experience of this company is a joke,and it took away a good part of me,what is my pride,that all of us have to help us through life,good times,and bad times,and repect aswell,this company looks down and me,and upsets me,some of the staff of this company need retraining in how to talk to people with them,making them small,and taking away peoples pride,and repect,i am evan scared to open my door to let them in my flat,now i am on my meds now to help me cope,and sleep at night omg,thank goodness for cab and good solicitors we have here in plymouth,this is the worst landlord i have had in years,it will get worse,before it gets better omg,go and send a boy to do a mans job omg,what comes around,goes around,and giving me bad health aswell,and bunch of cowboys aswell

It seems impossible to get action by Sovereign on this. Despite myriad letters and communication. Dirt and squalor allowed to continue in the communal / grounds area as cleaning contractors never employed or when they are, finally, they do a pathetic job of it. Rats infestation the accepted as normal. Many complaints by residents over many months - but no action.

If I could, I would rate this place 0-star. It is not acceptable leaving tenants without hot water for a week. I have been calling them every day and no one has lifted a finger to fix this issue. I am paying >800£ every month and I am not receiving proper services from the accommodation. This is basic needs to a human being.

We made a complaint over 30 days ago regarding a neighbours bamboo growing out of control blocking the sunlight and views out of our kitchen window and the fact that during strong winds the bamboo hits our kitchen window. When we made the complaint we were told we would receive a call back in 10 days yet we have just called again and the operator wasn't helpful and just fobbed us off with the same excuse as the last operator. Having been a tenant for over 13 years I can happily say the service provided by sovereign has gone down hill ever since they merged and there customer services is subterranean.

We have had a recurring maggot infestation due to the summer heat. We have live maggots crawling on the corridor floors on the ground floor and moving into the lifts. We have contacted SNG to solve the problem by suggesting they put pu fly zappers down and cleaning the place thoroughly. We keep being told they will come in 3-5 working days. Completely ignoring a health risk and it's disgusting to live in such a condition. I wonder if they would like to work with live maggots crawling on their office floors? We have resorted to contacting the local council and Environmental Health for advice.

It has been 16 weeks since the scaffolding went up around the building and no sign of any work happening. Sovereign don't care about residents as they couldn't even tell us the work was happening and they have no idea 112 days later when the work will be completed. Yes I really did say that and yes it's completely true!!! How can this chaotic mess of an organisation still be allowed to continue running? After two complaints they really can't see what all the fuss is nor accept any responsibilty about the problem and they imply I AM THE PROBLEM! They don't feel we are important enough to tell us what is going on. To Sovereign this is another day at the office to anyone ekse this is the sign of utter contempt they feel for residents. They are THE WORST COMPANY I HAVE EVER HAD THE MISFORTUNE to have experienced! I am sure they must be a scam? No one can be this incompetent and uncaring?? Surely???

The worst company I've ever had the misfortune of dealing with.
Bad companies should not be allowed to grow. Don't touch with a bar pole anywhere along the process.

Service has always been disappointing, even before the merger, but since becoming SNG, things have only gone downhill. Communication is terrible, it’s near impossible to speak to someone consistent, and you constantly get vague or conflicting responses.

I did once get a call back from the complaints team after raising concerns, which I appreciated at the time. But when I explained the issue of poor communication and feeling disregarded, the staff member brought up her own landlord issues as if that somehow made it okay — and even implied that I should just be grateful to have a roof over my head. I am grateful, and I told her that, but it was a completely unprofessional thing to say in that context.

That kind of response says everything about how SNG handles complaints — deflective, dismissive, and lacking any real accountability. It’s not about helping tenants; it’s about shutting the conversation down.

Repairs take too long, there’s no proper contact with housing officers anymore, and it feels like everything is run from a faceless call centre. For an organisation that calls itself a charity, it operates with all the care and efficiency of a stretched-out business.

SNG needs serious improvement — tenants deserve to be listened to, not brushed off.

If I could give these bunch of cowboys a 0 I would. They promise to do repairs, the guys they have doing repairs aren't even qualified. They just come in ya home demand a cuppa tea and then bodge the work. Im registered as disabled as well as my daughter, I was hospitalised due to mould in the home. Then took a further 2 years for them to take notice. They have broken so many laws when it comes to housing regulations its unreal when you complain they say someone will be in contact with you but never do.

In April 2024 i had a stairlift installed by a company called Liftech by the hands of east hands council for my mom who is disabled since then it has had nothing but issues after 1 year the warranty ran out so it would be transferred to Sovereign housing association in may 2025 it broke down leaving my mum trapped upstairs without food and medication for 4 days sovereign housing association sent a company called Jackson's lift group out on Friday evening to fix it however he was a lift engineer not a stairlift engineer so didn't have a clue how to fix it Sovereign Housing Association then organised a fire and safety engineer who knew even less about stairlifts and be guided over the phone by someone from Liftech during which I heard Aaron say if you don't put that back in correctly it will slide off the tracks very dangerous behaviour that would fall under manslaughter and company neglect if something had happened. Jackson's lift group had then returned on Monday at which point I had it fix but one month later it broke down again with the exact same issue leaving my mum trapped upstairs again without food and medication and sovereign housing association sent Jackson's lift group out again who sent out a guy who was polite but a lift engineer so didn't know how to fix it and was looking on his phone at what the codes meant. The following day another engineer showed up who was very rude and unfortunately this time my oldest cat passed away in a very undignified way because nobody could take her to the vet. After this I decided I don't trust the stairlift sovereign housing association or any company they send to repair it so it's still broken and I instead installed the old handrail back which combined with the other handrail just about works. I was told by several members of staff at sovereign housing association that I would be compensated only to be stabbed in the back by this absolutely atrocious company and accused of lying. So let me make this very damn clear. I WILL REFUSE ANY SOVEREIGN ENGINEERS INTO MY HOUSE AND IF SOVEREIGN SAY IT'S ILLEGAL TO DO THAT THEN I WILL REPLY SO IS LEAVING SOMEONE TRAPPED UPSTAIRS TO DIE WITHOUT ACCESS TO FOOD AND MEDICATION.

Sng housing association in Basingstoke need to be investigated don't take someone with anxiety and depression seriously , anti social with neighbour got videos of it all and all get is dismissed discugusting , staff at Basingstoke are useless ,not good with there work on anti social behaviour or never see allocation officer is never get hold of her ,anti social officer remark on we get that when we get that she than anxiety and depression I found that rather upsetting and no empthany need training

We've been trying for months to get sovereign to fix my 90-year-old mother's upstairs doors, which had handles coming off and would not close. My mother is housebound with limited eyesight and mobility, with early memory issues. She has a cat that will go upstairs, and because her mother knows the doors don't shut, she worries that her cat will get stuck up there, so she tries to go up the stairs. Twice they have been out and still not done the job properly, with the doors still not able to shut, and know they won't come out again until October. This is an accident waiting to happen, but it's not urgent in their eyes

Extremely poor quality of service, which is non-existent. The customer service responds to your requests just to pretend they care, and then does literally nothing to fix their tenants' issues. I am a resident in their Westminster property. There is mould and damp in the lobby. No security is provided at all and the CCTV cameras are out of order. They are trying to hide their faults and do not care about their tenants. Do not be tricked by their new flashy website.

"What went wrong this time?"
This time, every time.
Begging for repairs, contractors hash up jobs & complaints aren't even acknowledged.
Every fixture & fitting will be the cheapest..
I once had a 6 foot hole in the roof due to high winds lifting tiles-nothing between our upstairs ceiling & the sky - there's not even roofing felt in the loft. My son ( with a fractured spine) had to climb up into the loft & stick bubble wrap over the hole, plus up & down with buckets & towels to try & mitigate the rain & continuing high winds.I came close to a nervous breakdown.
They're happy to leave tenants with no hot water even in winter. We spent 2 weeks carrying saucepans, kettles of water up the stairs to wash-despite them knowing that I have a terrible neurovascular disease and epilepsy and one of my sons has severe M.E.
We're having works done ( tick box carbon reducing crap) So far we've had 2 extractor fans replaced with ones that come on as & when they choose, door "undercuts" which consisted of someone sanding the bottoms of doors to "increase airflow" to prevent mould....yeah, all it does is create drafts! Then there was a "mould wash" that consisted of a guy going round the house who said there's no mould in the house-he didn't even look properly so didn't notice the mould on a bedroom wall. We're supposed to be getting solar panels, but the scaffold surveyors have hashed up the design needed to construct it round the house, so the 1st scaffold visit they didn't bring the right planks, 2nd time they assured me they did, put up less than half then disappeared, 3rd time didn't turn up. Solar panel's had to be cancelled each time, & you never even get a visit to talk about the process of installation, the contractor just expects you to be in whenever they choose-and they turn up without appt! Ok-these aren't directly SNG but they're examples of the shoddy services provided by cheapo contractors to tenants, & even if I did try & speak to SNG about it they wouldn't do anything. Now back to SNG & repairs-we once (the same time as the roof leak) had 7 plumber visits to fix ONE leak under the bath! They either failed to fix, or made it worse. I had to take photos to show the hole in the downstairs toilet ceiling caused by the leak-why should we have to take photos? Why no surveyors? I know why-save money. My front & back doors fit so badly that you can see daylight round the frame, no action.
Oh-it's hit & miss with the call handlers - when they're rude they're very rude, & make judgements about the urgency of repairs ( hence the no hot water for 2 wks) Each failure to resolve an issue has to be "raised as a new repair" meaning no continuity, and no accountability. Good luck ever being able to speak to anyone in middle management-they'll be "unavailable" These are just a few examples of the abysmal behaviour tenants can-do-expect.
In order for this report to be addressed they ask for the date of the issue & someone will probably email me to ask for specifics - there is no fixed date, they've been utterly rubbish for years.