Halton Housing Trust delivers 'fair' housing management service

The housing management service provided by Halton Housing Trust is ‘fair’ and has ‘promising prospects for improvement’, according to an independent report released today by the Audit Commission.

On a scale from zero to three stars, the Audit Commission inspection team gave the service a ‘fair’, one star rating.

This was because staff teams, service provision and systems have been restructured to deliver improvements for customers.

Homes are being improved and customer safety has been prioritised. However, there are still some gaps with inconsistent responsive repairs, high costs in some areas and customer involvement needing further development.

Paul Clarke, the Audit Commission’s Lead Housing Inspector for the North West said: "Halton Housing Trust is a relatively young housing transfer body that has begun to show improvements in services to its tenants and has clear plans in place to drive further improvements in the future."

Strengths include:

• Some customer focused services have improved from a low point at transfer. Access to these is now much more convenient and customer satisfaction reflects this.
• The major works programme is on target to deliver Decent Homes in line with Government timescales, and thermal comfort and efficiency have been prioritised.
• The Trust has prioritised gas servicing and has introduced measures to reduce the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Weaknesses include:

• The involvement of customers in shaping the Trust’s direction and priorities is under-developed.
• Responsive repairs services do not consistently meet the standards agreed with customers.
• The Trust’s costs are high and value for money is not proven in key areas.
• The time taken to re-let vacant homes, although improving, is below average in comparison with similar organisations.

To help the service improve, inspectors made a number of recommendations. These include:

• Strengthening the focus on customers to better plan for and provide services for their needs.
• Improving planning for diverse communities to ensure that all needs are served.
• Improving approaches to major works and responsive repairs to ensure that Decent Homes standards are achieved, and that customers receive consistently high standards of service.
• Introducing a range of measures to improve value for money ensuring that customers benefit from efficient and effective services.

Copies of the report are available from Halton Housing Trust or from the Audit Commission website at www.audit-commission.gov.uk/reports.