Mixed report for 'Johnnie' Johnson Housing Trust
'Johnnie' Johnson Housing Trust has a balance of strengths and weaknesses. Audit Commission inspectors reached this conclusion following a short-notice inspection of how the housing association is managing empty properties and setting service charges.
Riza Yassin, Audit Commission Lead Housing Inspector, said:
"There are some areas of weakness which the Trust should improve in order to satisfy its customers that all services are of good quality."
Strengths noted by inspectors include:
Weaknesses noted include:
To help the service improve, inspectors made a number of recommendations, including:
Johnnie Johnson Housing Trust works in 34 local authority areas across the Midlands and the North of England. It originally specialised in retirement housing but now provides over 4,600 homes for rent and shared ownership to a broader range of customers and develops properties for low cost sale.
__________
Lewisham Homes Tenants Now Getting a Good Service
The housing management services provided by Lewisham Homes are 'good' with 'promising' prospects for improvement, according to a report released by the Audit Commission.
The inspection team gave the ALMO, which manages council housing for the London Borough of Lewisham, a two-star rating.
Hugh Boatswain, Audit Commission senior manager, said:
"Most of the services at Lewisham Homes are showing substantial improvement while becoming more efficient.
"The organisation consults its residents well, it is good at identifying vulnerability, works well with the Council's Housing Benefits service and helps residents who are financially excluded or in debt.
"However some properties are in significant need of cyclical decorations and advanced information for residents about planned works is limited."
The inspection report lists a number of strengths, including:
Weaknesses noted include:
Lewisham Homes is an arm's length management organisation (ALMO) set up in January 2007. It manages 13,500 social housing tenancies and over 5,000 leasehold properties plus another 3,400 properties for the Council on an interim basis until October 2010.
__________
Council Tenants in Warwick Get a Poor Service
The landlord service provided by Warwick District Council is poor and has uncertain prospects for improvement, according to the first of two reports on the Council released by the Audit Commission.
The Audit Commission inspection team gave the service a zero-star rating.
The inspection revealed a range of weaknesses including long delays in answering phone calls, and failure to complete emergency and urgent repairs on time. There were also problems around letting empty homes quickly and collecting rent.
Audit Commission senior manager Deborah Good, said:
"It was disappointing to find such significant weaknesses. We inspected different parts of the housing service and found none to be of an adequate standard. Weaknesses in managing performance and a patchy record of improvement to date mean that prospects for improvement are currently 'uncertain'.
"To its credit, the Council has responded positively to the inspection and a comprehensive improvement programme is now in development. Stronger leadership and an increased focus on managing performance should start to bring about the improvements that tenants deserve"
Warwick District Council owns and manages 5,662 rented homes.
__________
Other Full Inspection Reports
