Haringey residents mark the grade

Monday 1 June 2009

Local residents are taking part in a new scheme to monitor the standards of estate services, not only on estates in Haringey, but in other boroughs as well.

As part of the Peer Review scheme, residents from six London boroughs came together to mark various aspects of cleaning and caretaking on estates, such as stairwells, garage areas and communal gardens. Tenants and leaseholders from Camden, Redbridge Homes, Ascham Homes, Barnet Homes and CityWest Homes joined Haringey residents at a recent training event hosted by Homes for Haringey. After a morning of learning the ropes, the afternoon involved a tour around the Progress Way Estate. The participants examined the blocks to see how the process works in practice and compared ratings.

A photobook developed by Housemark with photographic examples ranging from ‘excellent’ to ‘very poor’ was used to assist the participants in making their own assessments. HouseMark is a membership-based organisation that helps the social housing sector to improve performance.

The aim of the scheme is for residents to get a clear idea of the standards they can reasonably expect, and for social landlords to acquire a more objective view of their Estate Services.

Homes for Haringey’s Executive Director of Housing, Jackie Thomas, said: “This is a scheme that benefits everybody. Those who took part in the Peer Review had both a useful and enjoyable day and it is very useful to us to get their feedback. The great thing about sharing the experience with residents from elsewhere is that we get an independent, balanced and resident-led appraisal of Haringey’s housing estates. In addition, it empowers local people to have a real say in how we run things.”

Haringey resident, Angie Buzzacott, said: “It was a great way of meeting people from otherareas and for them to see how Homes for Haringey works. I look forward to the return visits. I think that partnership with other boroughs is the way forward. Overall I was very pleased, not only with how the day went, but also with the standard of caretaking on our estates.“

The next step is for the group to meet and carry out the actual monitoring visits in the six boroughs between June and September. After the first visit, to Ascham Homes in Waltham Forest on 10 June, the group will reconvene to monitor estates in Haringey on 24 June.

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