[KF] Gentoo Sunderland (previously Sunderland Housing Group) and Housing Hartlepool have been working in partnership to benchmark the estate management services they provide in their neighbourhoods.
The Peer Review, allowed customers and staff from Housing Hartlepool to inspect Gentoo estates.
Customers and staff from Gentoo had previously visited Housing Hartlepool to complete estate inspections. The estate inspections were very successful and were led by local residents.
Customers from both housing organisations were given the opportunity to assess and compare a range of estate management services. This included checking the standard of grounds maintenance, garage sites, cleaning of communal areas, condition of open spaces and play areas.
The aim of the Peer Review was that both organisations could learn and develop improved estate management service standards in their local neighbourhoods.
Michelle Meldrum, Deputy Director of Gentoo Sunderland said:
"We are very pleased to be able to benchmark this service in partnership with Housing Hartlepool.
"It is great to be able to involve our customers in this way and to find out what other organisations and their customers think of the service we provide. We will use the feedback to help us to improve the services we offer our own customers."
Customers from Gentoo and Housing Hartlepool received training on how to carry out the inspections on both sites.
Helen Ivison, Housing Hartlepool's Housing Manager, said:
"Resident involvement is a high priority at Housing Hartlepool, with tenants often best-placed to identify ways to improve services and how their local areas need to be looked after."
In future, Gentoo is aiming to invite other local housing associations to join in the Peer Review process, which will help customers and local staff to develop and improve estate management service standards.
Peer Reviews Helps Set Standards
Registered social landlord inspection reports issued by the Audit Commission during August included those summarised below.
Cheshire Peaks and Plains Housing Trust
Housing Services: Two-star good service with excellent prospects for improvement.
Inspectors noted that services have improved significantly since the Trust took over the housing stock from Macclesfield Council in 2006.
Strengths include:
Weaknesses include:
__________
Herefordshire Housing
Housing Services: Two-star good service with excellent prospects for improvement.
An earlier inspection in June 2007 had rated the organisation, which manages over 5,000 properties taken over from Herefordshire Council in 2002, as 'poor' with 'uncertain' prospects for improvement.
This latest reports notes that the organisation understands and meets the needs of its customers, including those who are vulnerable or who have a disability. Repairs are completed quickly and to a high standard, and antisocial behaviour is being effectively tackled.
The Scottish Housing Regulator published its inspection report on Cairn Housing Association. It awarded the Association a 'Fair' rating (C Grade) overall.
Cairn Housing Association is a large and diverse national landlord with a significant development programme. It owns around 2,950 houses located throughout 23 of Scotland's local authority areas.
Inspectors found that Cairn Housing Association has some strengths but also a significant number of areas where it needs to improve its performance. The Association is aware of its weaknesses and has already introduced a number of improvements to its services in response to our findings.
The Association will now prepare and agree with us an Improvement Plan to address the areas of weaker performance identified in our report.