East Homes Limited has a satisfactory approach to ensuring annual gas safety checks and repairing empty properties. But its approach to day-to-day repairs is unsatisfactory and there are some weaknesses in the way it responds to tenants' needs.
Audit Commission inspectors reached this conclusion following a short-notice inspection of how well the East London-based housing association is responding to repair requests, reletting empty homes and undertaking gas safety checks.
The report shows that the Association has many of the basic requirements in place but in the way that it responds to requests for repairs is falling short of the level of service that the best performing organisations demonstrate.
Hugh Boatswain, Audit Commission senior manager, said:
'East Homes is working hard to improve the quality of its services and this approach has already affected the way that it repairs empty properties and undertakes gas safety checks to a high standard. However, there is more work to be done to make sure that repairs are completed on time and to a high standard and that all services provide value for money'.
Strengths include:
- it is easy to report repairs in a number of convenient ways, with appointments made at times to suit tenants
- empty properties are let quickly and within the target time
- most properties have had a recent gas safety check carried out
Weaknesses include:
- repairs are not always completed within target times or to a high standard
- the appointments system is not effective with a large number of 'follow on' appointments and duplicate jobs raised, which inconveniences customers
- not all services offer value for money, with little involvement from tenants in important value for money decisions
To help the service improve, inspectors made a number of recommendations. These include:
- working with contractors to ensure that repairs are completed to a high standard and on time, and that the service they provide is fair and equitable
- involving tenants in value for money decisions and ensuring that they have the appropriate training to support them
East Homes Limited is now required to produce by working with its customers an action plan to address these recommendations.
The Tenant Services Authority (TSA) is the affordable housing regulator in England and works with the Audit Commission on the inspection of housing associations. The TSA commissions the Audit Commission to carry out inspections and the results are used by the TSA in its overall assessment of housing association performance.
Notes to editors
East Homes (formerly East Thames Housing Association) was formed and registered with the Housing Corporation in 1979. It is charitable and owns around 7,500 general needs homes, over 1,500 bedspaces of supported housing and manages over 700 properties leased from private landlords.
The Audit Commission introduced short-notice inspections for housing associations to give inspectors a clearer and more realistic view of the services that tenants receive.
Associations are given just five days notice of the inspection before their services are rated on a four point scale - from 'strengths significantly outweigh weaknesses' down to 'weaknesses outweigh strengths'.
Within two months of the publication of this report, East Homes will provide the Audit Commission with a plan showing how it will implement the report's recommendations. The Commission will then assess and publish East Homes' prospects for improvement.
The Audit Commission is an independent watchdog, driving economy, efficiency and effectiveness in local public services to deliver better outcomes for everyone.
Our work across local government, health, housing, community safety and fire and rescue services means that we have a unique perspective. We promote value for money for taxpayers, auditing the £200 billion spent by 11,000 local public bodies.
As a force for improvement, we work in partnership to assess local public services and make practical recommendations for promoting a better quality of life for local people.
For further information please contact: Chloe Morales Oyarce, Regional Communications Manager (London) on 0844 798 2095.