carrick council's arm's-length management organisation has become the fifth in the country to be rated as "excellent" for housing management by the Audit Commission.
Carrick Housing, a second-round ALMO that manages almost 4000 homes in south Cornwall, was awarded the maximum three stars.

It joins Derby Homes, Ashfield Homes, Brent Housing Partnership and Westminster's CityWest Homes in the select group.

The rating means the Carrick ALMO will receive an additional £6.6m of capital funding over the next 15 months to improve the quality of its homes. If it continues to perform well, Carrick Housing will receive up to £19.5m by 2008.

The ALMO was commended for being readily accessible to tenants and running a quick and effective customer-focused repairs service.

However, the Audit Commission's inspection report concluded that the prospects for improvement in the ALMO's service are uncertain.

The report highlighted several weaknesses, which needed to be addressed. "Tenant participation is limited to a small number of representatives, who do not always have sufficient time to consult other tenants about important issues," it said.