HOUSEMARK AND ARCH AGREE PARTNERSHIP TO RAISE THE PROFILE AND PERFORMANCE OF RETAINED HOUSING AUTHORITIES

The Association of Retained Council Housing (ARCH) and HouseMark today agreed a partnership which will raise the profile and performance of the retained housing authorities.

Under the partnership, HouseMark will organise a national Performance Improvement Club for authorities who retain management of council housing and an annual Chief Officer conference in association with ARCH. 

HouseMark will also develop a national benchmarking scheme for housing authorities which will cover housing management, maintenance, homelessness and anti-social behaviour.

The aim of the initiative is to demonstrate the excellence of retained housing authorities whilst sharing good practice and benchmarking data in a manner that raises standards throughout the sector.

HouseMark Chief Executive Ross Fraser said: “With the government now considering granting financial freedoms for excellent housing authorities it is imperative that all housing authorities can share in the good practice of those peers who have demonstrated high performance in inspection, under the CPA and the Beacon scheme.  We believe that ARCH will become a major force in coming years and are delighted to be their partner.”

Councillor Milan Radulovic, Chair of the ARCH Executive and Leader of Broxtowe Council, said: “There is a real momentum growing amongst retained housing authorities, in terms of raising performance standards, responding to the government’s neighbourhood and customer empowerment agendas and securing the financial freedoms we need to further enhance our services.  HouseMark is the field leader in housing performance improvement and through this partnership we believe that ARCH and its membership will grow and thrive.”

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Press release issued: March 15 2007