[KF] The Local Government Ombudsman has signed up to a project run by the Housing Ombudsman Service and HouseMark to help housing providers perform better when tenants complain.
The Ombudsman Says service, which launched earlier this year, has already made a wide range of housing association case digests available online to show landlords what to do - and what not to do - when things go wrong.
Now, under the new agreement, landlords will also have fast and easy access to cases involving council services.
The organisations are also planning to explore other ways of working together to help all social landlords manage complaints more effectively and improve their relationship with their tenants.
Local Government Ombudsman Tony Redmond said:
"Housing represents the biggest category of complaint that we receive about council services, covering issues from housing repairs and allocations to homelessness.
"Using the Ombudsman Says website to publish the outcome of individual housing cases will help to maximise the value of our investigations. It will disseminate good practice more widely and assist councils in making improvements to their services."
The Housing Ombudsman Mike Biles said:
"I am pleased that in addition to the summaries of cases from my service, the new website will include those of the Local Government Ombudsman.
"Housing practitioners should use these examples better to handle complaints and improve performance in an important area of interaction with tenants."
The website can be searched by keyword, topic and tenure and is regularly updated with new cases and information. It is available at www.ombudsmansays.info.
Ombudsman Website Publicises Investigations
The following are summaries of selected local authority inspection reports issued by the Audit Commission during September.
Hammersmith & Fulham Homes
Housing Management Service: Two-star good service with excellent prospects for improvement.
Inspectors found that the ALMO's service is easy to access, strategies and assessments on diversity are comprehensive, the Decent Homes programme is well managed and performance on gas servicing is strong.
However, the ALMO is not sufficiently outcome focused in its work on diversity, repair appointment systems are limited and the performance in dealing with communal repairs has not been consistent.
Hugh Boatswain, the Audit Commission's Lead Housing Inspector for London said:
"‘An effective focus on customers is improving satisfaction with services. Residents are offered a wide selection of ways to be involved and resident satisfaction with neighbourhoods is high.
"H&F Homes has a clear focus on value for money issues with a robust invest-to-save strategy. However, costs are still relatively expensive, arrears and eviction levels are high and time taken to relet empty properties is worse than average."
To help the service improve, inspectors made a number of recommendations, including:
Hammersmith & Fulham Homes is the arm's-length management organisation (ALMO) that manages 12,951 tenanted and 4,430 leasehold properties on behalf of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It commenced operations on 1 June 2004.
Registered social landlord inspection reports issued by the Audit Commission during September included those summarised below.
Accent Peerless Limited
Housing Management Services: One-star fair service with promising prospects for improvement.
Paddy Mooney, the Audit Commission's Head of Housing for the Southern Region, said:
"It's a mixed picture, with some areas performing very well and others in need of improvement. However, our inspection found that Accent Peerless is tackling weaknesses in its services effectively, leading to increased satisfaction rates among its tenants.
"Effective leadership and some good plans for the future give us every confidence that the organisation is well placed to meet the challenges ahead."
The inspectors found a number of strengths in the service. These include:
Issues identified as still to be tackled include:
Accent Peerless is a Surrey-based housing association that manages affordable rented and supported housing across a number of South East authorities. It currently owns and manages around 3,400 homes, with the largest concentration in the borough of Surrey Heath.
It is subsidiary of Accent Group Limited, joining the group in 2006. The Accent Group owns and manages around 24,000 homes across 77 local authority areas, mostly in the north of England.
__________
Derwent Living
Repairs Service: 'A balance of strengths and weaknesses' (short-notice inspection).
The report shows that day-to-day repairs are completed quickly, and performance on servicing gas appliances is strong. However, the Association is not meeting its own targets for the time taken to repair and let empty properties.
Weaknesses noted by inspectors include:
Derwent Housing Association, which trades as Derwent Living, was formed in 1964. It is responsible for social and sheltered housing, as well as homes for market rent, student accommodation and housing for key workers. Most of its homes are in the East Midlands.
Notes
The Audit Commission introduced short-notice inspections for housing associations to give inspectors a clearer and more realistic view of the services that tenants receive. Associations are given just five days notice of the inspection before their services are rated on a four point scale - from 'strengths significantly outweigh weaknesses' down to 'weaknesses outweigh strengths'.
__________
Orwell Housing Association
Housing Management: 'More strengths than weaknesses' (short-notice inspection).
The report shows that the Association offers a high level of customer care. Empty properties are let very quickly and residents’ homes are being improved to a good standard.
Strengths include:
Weaknesses identified include:
Orwell Housing Association owns and manages some 3,000 homes, including a number of supported housing schemes. It operates across Cambridge, North Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk, with the largest concentration of homes in Ipswich and Lowestoft.
