Housing association ordered to do better

The housing association which manages Oldham’s Fitton Hill estate has been told to crack down on arrears, improve records on conditions of homes, and show better value for money.

A short-notice inspection by the Audit Commission revealed a mixed performance in how the Liverpool-based Villages Housing Association delivers day-to-day repairs, gas servicing, income and asset management.

In March, 2004, Villages took over 1,220 Fitton Hill homes following the transfer from the council of the ownership and management of the estate.

The inspectors found that strengths outweighed weaknesses in repairs, gas servicing and income management, but found that services were not always accessible to all local people, and that Villages was not necessarily delivering good value for money.

Strengths include: access to services, helpful staff and rising tenant satisfaction; most repairs completed on time; tenants get help to reduce arrears and increase rent collected; gas servicing done effectively.

Weaknesses include: meeting the diverse needs of all tenants and offering value for money; flawed information on property conditions, so improvement and investment may not be well prioritised; arrears left when tenants move on are high and increasing.

The inspectors call for better understanding of and action to get value for money, developing better knowledge of customers’ needs and tailoring services to meet them, and improving arrears’ collection.

A Villages spokesman said: “We are pleased the inspectors found a marked improvement in the services we provide.

“This demonstrates the hard work we have put in has delivered positive outcomes for our tenants. We accept that some areas still need further improvements and we are committed to investing resources and working with our tenants to deliver them.

“We are pleased the commission recognised that a high proportion of tenants are satisfied with the services they receive from Villages Housing, and that overall our strengths outweigh our weaknesses.”

Copies of the report are available from Villages or the Audit Commission website at www.audit-commission.gov.uk