Town & Country Housing Group 'rated highly' by key local authority partners » Housing » 24dash.com

The Corporation invited local authorities across England to take part in an online survey to give their views of the performance of housing associations working in their areas.

They were asked to agree or disagree with eight statements relating to sustainable communities and housing delivery.

The number of authorities who gave Town & Country the thumbs up was higher than the national average for all eight statements.

Town & Country was rated particularly highly by Tunbridge Wells and Kingston-upon-Thames.

Councils were also invited to add comments in support of their views. Comments from Wealden District Council included:

• Housing management – ”Town and Country are very proactive players at the management forum and seem to respond to issues effectively.”

• Quality development – “Have employed very good architects who have produced some outstanding schemes in the district.”

The Corporation conducted the survey to encourage closer and more successful working between housing associations and local authorities.

It recognises that many associations and local authorities already work in close co-operation to regenerate neighbourhoods, drive up standards and to deliver jointly on issues of concern.

Jon Rosser, Town & Country’s chief executive, said: “We put tremendous efforts into working with and supporting our colleagues on local authorities so that we can meet joint objectives.

“The survey shows that local authorities firmly believe that they have an effective working relationship with us and that is very heartening.”

The Housing Corporation asked for feedback on the quality of associations' work in the following topics:

1. Working relationships between the local authority and housing associations;
2. Housing management service;
3. Contribution to tackling homelessness;
4. Contribution to wider strategic agendas;
5. Development performance;
6. Decent homes;
7. Impact on the neighbourhoods it serves and promotes sustainable neighbourhoods and communities; and
8. Co-operation with overview and scrutiny committees.

Local authorities were asked to score each of these on a scale from ‘agree completely’ to ‘disagree completely’.

Town & Country provides 7,000 affordable homes across the South East and is a Housing Corporation development partner. It is based in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.