Two stars with promising prospects
Thursday 4 November 2010
The housing management services provided by Homes for Haringey are ‘good’. That’s the official recommendation from an independent report, published today, from the Audit Commission which has awarded it two stars, following a two week inspection in June.
It also said the services provided by the four year old organisation has promising prospects for improvement. Inspectors were on site at various Homes for Haringey premises between 21 June and 1 July. They spoke to residents, Homes for Haringey staff and Board members, partners and also to Council employees who provide services to tenants on Homes for Haringey’s behalf.
Before going on-site and during the visit, inspectors reviewed more than 400 documents provided as evidence and mystery shopped to check various services offered by the organisation. Services covered by the inspection included Resident Involvement, Repairs, Tenancy, Estate, Income and Asset Management.
Homes for Haringey’s Chief Executive, Paul Bridge, said: “We are pleased that the inspectors have found we provide a good service to Haringey residents. Homes for Haringey has residents at the heart of improvements to our services. We are confident that our strong partnership with residents and the Council will enable services to continue to improve in the future.”
Strengths include:
- · Residents are actively involved in shaping services
- · Tenancy and estate management services including dealing with ASB and hate crimes are strong
- · Repairs are of good quality and easy to report
- · A successful decent homes programme is being delivered.
Weaknesses include:
- · Income collection is variable
- · The speed at which empty properties are re-let.
Hugh Boatswain, Audit Commission senior manager, added: “Homes for Haringey continues to provide good, quality services to tenants. It has been proactive in involving residents in the shaping of these services and as a result has managed to focus on improving the things that residents find important. However, Homes for Haringey needs to improve performance in areas such as re-letting empty homes and income collection and some of its overhead costs are high.”
Key areas the report also highlighted:
- Good quality repairs and gas safety, fire, asbestos and other health and safety risks are well managed
- Easy to access services with good quality information provided
- Equality impact assessments are identifying barriers to access and delivering positive outcomes for Haringey tenants
- A strong approach to procurement.
The inspectors also found that the organisation, which manages over 20,000 council homes, is providing a good service to leaseholders and supported housing is well managed.
Mike Jones, Chair of the Board, said: “The Audit Commission’s report highlighted many areas of considerable improvement, and I particularly welcome their comments on resident involvement. I believe that the key to our success has been the determined effort to work in partnership with the service users themselves who have helped us get it right at every stage.”
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