The income management, responsive repairs and gas services provided by Wandle Housing Association were assessed by an independent report released today by the Audit Commission.
The Audit Commission inspectors found a mixed picture with strengths and weaknesses in balance for value for money and strengths outweighing weaknesses for gas servicing and income management. However, weaknesses outweigh strengths in access, diversity and responsive repairs. The quality of services is inconsistent, with residents not feeling listened to and lacking sufficient information on performance.
Hugh Boatswain, Audit Commission Lead Housing Inspector for London, said:
'Wandle Housing Association services to tenants are mixed. Tenants benefit from some good quality services in some areas but not in others. Important service elements like answering the phone quickly are not adequate and residents with additional service needs are not having those needs met enough of the time.'
Strengths include:
- nearly all (99.8 per cent) of tenancies have an up-to-date gas service
- Wandle is reducing tenant debt while providing suitable support to those in difficulty
- procurement has been effective and appropriate plans are in place to improve value for money
Weaknesses include:
- repairs satisfaction levels have been low with repairs not ordered accurately enough
- telephone response times are slow, the website is under developed and tenants are not satisfied with the response to their complaints
- staff lack sufficient tenant information, in particular tenant needs
To help services improve, inspectors made a number of recommendations, including:
- reviewing service standards and improving the quality of the website, the speed of answering the phone and the quality of response to complaints
- reviewing the approach to diversity and providing better training, systems and information on vulnerable tenants
- improving the repair service with more flexible appointments, recording repair requests more accurately and better monitoring
- improving value for money by reducing costs in areas that do not deliver services directly to residents, comparing costs with other organisations and allowing staff and tenants to help
Wandle Housing Association manages 5,700 properties in 11 South London boroughs. It employs 156 staff and has an annual turnover of £35 million.
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
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.