Section: Best Practices & Standards

Audit Commission Highs and Lows

The following are summaries of selected full inspection reports issued by the Audit Commission during May.

Stockport Homes

The ALMO provides an 'excellent' Three-star service with excellent prospects for improvement.

Inspectors found that Stockport Homes provides easily accessible services, which meet standards agreed with tenants and other customers.

Initiatives to prevent homelessness are effective and the housing needs of older people are being met.

Tenants and other customers report high satisfaction with most services.

Riza Yassin, Audit Commission Lead Housing Inspector, said:

"Stockport Homes continues to deliver one of the best housing services in the country and develops innovative new services to improve the social and financial inclusion of its tenants and wider communities."

Stockport Homes is an Arms-length Management Organisation set up in October 2005 to manage and improve over 11,000 homes owned by Stockport Council.

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Wiltshire Council

The Council is providing a 'poor' Zero-star housing management service which has uncertain prospects for improvement.

Areas covered by the inspection included the repair and improvement of homes, rent collection and dealing with antisocial behaviour.

Weaknesses noted in the report include:

Wiltshire Council is a new unitary authority in the south-west of England formed on 1st April 2009. It owns and manages around 5,400 homes located in the geographical area of the former Salisbury District Council in south Wiltshire.

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Other Reports


Short-notice Inspection Reports

Somer Community Housing Trust (SCHT)

SCHT has more weaknesses than strengths across the services inspected.

Audit Commission inspectors reached this conclusion following a short-notice inspection of the Association, which is a member of the Somer Housing Group. The inspection looked at how well SCHT carries out gas servicing and re-lets its empty homes.

Hugh Boatswain, Audit Commission Lead Housing Inspector, said:

"Our inspection report presents a fairly mixed picture. For example, the Trust takes a long time to re-let its empty homes, and service standards are not in place to allow residents to measure how well services are being provided.

"The Trust also needs to look at whether the services inspected are giving residents value for money.

"On a more positive note, the majority of homes have had an annual gas safety service, though there are some weaknesses in the recording and documentation process."

SCHT is a charitable registered stock transfer association formed in 1999. It owns and manages about 9,000 homes, including 1,700 sheltered housing properties, and manages a further 850 leased dwellings. SCHT operates principally in Bath and North East Somerset.

KeyFacts

Housing Monthly Diary



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Reporting on May 2010

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