Dale and Valley Homes provides a 'good' service with 'excellent' prospects for improvement. It continues to improve services for tenants with most homes meeting decent standards and responsive repairs being completed on time. Costs are reducing and there is effective leadership to drive further improvements and represent tenant interests within the County of Durham. Tenant satisfaction for services is high and weaknesses found in the inspection two years ago have largely been addressed. Dale and Valley Homes is now part of the new unitary Durham County Council and this brings new opportunities for further improvement.
The inspectors made a number of recommendations. These include consulting tenants to ensure services are delivered in ways that meet their needs; extending office opening times and offering a greater range of responsive repairs' appointment time slots; better understanding of how tenants want to be involved; and ensuring anti-social behaviour cases are effectively managed.