The following are summaries of selected local authority inspection reports issued by the Audit Commission during June.
Berneslai Homes
ALMO: Three-star excellent service with excellent prospects for improvement.
Yvonne Davies, Audit Commission Head of Housing for the North, said:
"Berneslai Homes has continued to improve its housing services to a point where it now stands alongside the best.
"More tenants are involved in deciding the best way to deliver services and customers are highly satisfied with the standard of services provided. The company has strong and effective leadership with a positive track record of improving services by learning from customers and other high performing organisations."
Strengths identified from the inspection include:
Berneslai Homes is an arm's- length management organisation (ALMO) set up by Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council in 2002 to manage its housing estates and bring homes up to the Government's Decent Homes Standard.
The ALMO manages 19,500 properties and employs around 600 staff.
Boston Borough Council
Strategic Housing Service: Zero-star poor service with uncertain prospects for improvement.
Ann Bennett, Audit Commission Lead Housing Inspector for the East Midlands, said:
"Boston Borough Council has committed itself to improving its strategic housing service but significant challenges remain.
"Revised strategies and policies have yet to produce any real benefits for customers. The Council has only recently begun to put in the resources necessary to enable it to meet its priorities in this area.
"This, together with a failure to ensure value for money, means that its prospects for improvement can only be described as 'uncertain'."
Weaknesses identified by inspectors include:
Boston Borough Council's strategic housing service has responsibility for housing advice and homelessness. It manages grant aid and works with housing associations and developers to improve the supply of housing. It also works with Boston Mayflower Housing Association to provide a choice-based lettings service.
Redbridge Homes
ALMO: One-star fair service with promising prospects for improvement.
Adrian Brown, Audit Commission Senior Manager, said:
"Redbridge Homes' services to residents are generally of an acceptable standard but the organisation does not ensure that the quality of service is consistent for all customers.
"While tenants receive a quick response to repairs, the quality of the work is variable.
"In these difficult economic times, the amount of debt advice available for residents is limited.
"However, residents are being actively engaged in improving services and the organisation has a good track record of delivering improvements so the prospects for improvement are promising."
Redbridge Homes is an arm's'length management organisation set up by Redbridge Council in April 2007. It is responsible for providing housing management and maintenance services, receiving a management fee for this service.
The ALMO manages the Council's £5.5 million budget for repairs and maintenance, and £4.2 million capital programme budget. It employs over 140 staff to deliver the service, and manages 4,700 tenancies and provides services to 2,337 leaseholders.
Rugby Borough Council
Landlord Services: One-star fair service with promising prospects for improvement.
The report concludes that estates are well-maintained, with empty homes being repaired quickly and to a good standard, which has led to steadily increasing customer satisfaction. But a number of areas still need to be improved, notably - responsive repairs; telephone access; value for money; and the use of performance information.
Inspectors made a number of recommendations, including:
Rugby Borough Council owns and manages 3,934 homes, of which 1,443 are sheltered housing for older people.
The Council's landlord service covers stock investment and asset management, housing income management and tenancy and estate management. The inspectors also looked at access and customer care, diversity and value for money in relation to the landlord service.
Wealden District Council
Strategic Housing Services: One-star fair service with promising prospects for improvement.
Services covered by the inspection included homelessness and housing advice, private sector housing work and work to deliver new housing, including affordable homes.
Sára Kulay, the Audit Commission's Lead Housing Inspector for the South East, said:,/p>
"Wealden delivers some aspects of its strategic housing services very well and offers people good access to its services.
"However, delivering sufficient new homes to meet the local need has been a significant challenge and work to improve private sector housing conditions is still developing.
"It is clear to us that housing is a key priority for the Council, demonstrated by increased investment in strategic housing services and some strong partnership working to tackle barriers to delivery. Based on this, we are confident that the Council can address the challenges ahead."
Inspectors made a number of recommendations. These include:
West Lindsey District Council
Strategic Housing Service: Zero-star poor service with uncertain prospects for improvement.
Weaknesses identified in the report include:
West Lindsey Council's strategic housing team is responsible for developing strategies for housing and homelessness. Their role focuses on monitoring and improving the provision, supply, adaptation and standard of housing within the district.
The Council transferred its housing stock in 1999 to Acis, who also manage housing advice and the waiting list.
Registered social landlord inspection reports issued by the Audit Commission during June included those summarised below.
Kingfisher Housing Association
Housing Management Service: One-star fair service with promising prospects for improvement.
The inspectors found a number of strengths in the service. These include:
The inspectors did, however, identify some weaknesses:
Kingfisher Housing Association (Kingfisher) works mainly in the Borough of Basingstoke and Deane in Hampshire, with some homes in Wiltshire and Berkshire. It currently owns and manages around 5,000 homes, including some 260 leasehold properties and 310 homes in sheltered schemes. Since January 2006, Kingfisher has been part of a group called the Wessex Housing Partnership.
Magna Housing Association
Government's Decent Homes Standard (Short-notice Inspection): The Association hasa balance of strengths and weaknesses.
Inspectors reached this conclusion following a short-notice inspection of how the Dorset-based housing association is progressing towards achieving the Government's Decent Homes standard and how Magna manages antisocial behaviour.
The inspection found that the Association is on course to bring all its homes up to Decent Homes standard by 2010 and that tenant satisfaction is relatively high. The Association manages antisocial behaviour well. However, planned work is not well publicised in advance and tenants are not involved in a meaningful way in the design and delivery of the service.
Strengths identified in the report include:
Weaknesses identified include:
Pavilion Housing Association
Estate Management Services (Short-notice Inspection): The Association hasmore strengths than weaknesses.
Sára Kulay, the Audit Commission's Lead Housing Inspector for the South East, said:
"Pavilion is providing good-quality estate management services to its residents, and this is reflected in high levels of satisfaction among residents.
"Our assessment of resident involvement was more mixed - a lot of work is being done to get people involved but tenants could be more involved in monitoring performance and shaping the overall direction of the Association.
"More work still needs to be done to improve Pavilion's approach to diversity and value for money."
The report lists a number of strengths, including:
Recommendations made to improve the service included:
Pavilion Housing Association was set up to take transfer of local authority homes from Rushmoor Borough Council in Hampshire in 1995. Since 2005 Pavilion has been part of the First Wessex Housing Group.
Pavilion now operates in Hampshire and Surrey, mainly in three local authority areas: Rushmoor, Waverley and Guildford. It currently has 4,423 general needs homes for rent. It also owns and manages 458 sheltered and extra care homes and over 800 leasehold and shared-ownership homes.
Tor Homes
Housing Management Service: One-star fair service with promising prospects for improvement.
Inspectors found a number of positive features of the service:
However, there are some issues that need to be tackled:
Tor Homes has more than 3,200 homes mainly in the South Hams district with over 200 homes in the districts of East Devon, Exeter, Plymouth, Teignbridge and Torbay. It was formed in 1999 to take over the housing stock of South Hams District Council. It joined the Devon and Cornwall Housing group in 2007.
