The housing register and housing advice service at Elmbridge Council, in Surrey, has received a one-star rating from the Audit Commission's housing inspectorate.
The services have excellent prospects for improvement, the commission said. Lead housing inspector Jacqueline Canham said quality of service had improved in the last year, but Elmbridge still had inconsistencies in the information and quality of customer care it provided.
The homelessness, housing register and advice services were contracted out to Elmbridge Housing Trust when the council transferred its stock in 2000, but it has since decided to bring them back in-house. Inspectors recommended that the council negotiate with local housing associations about the provision of permanent accommodation for homeless and vulnerable households.
Good prospects in Leeds
Repairs and maintenance provision in Leeds is fair, with excellent prospects for improvement, the housing inspectorate has said. The council's rent collection and debt recovery service was also deemed fair, with promising prospects of improvement. Both services were awarded one star.
Recommendations included publishing service standards to inform tenants what they can expect from repairs, improvements to call-centre services and reduced emergency repairs services.
The inspectorate also suggested that Leeds should develop a corporate approach to debt recovery across the council, support and develop residents' and tenants' associations and work to ensure rent arrears do not rise above £500.
Bolton's future uncertain
Bolton Council's approach to tenant participation has won a two-star rating from housing inspectors, but the service was said to have uncertain prospects for improvement.
This was because the council had no customer involvement strategy in place, which inspectors said showed a lack of specific direction. But they praised the existing structure and said relations with tenants' representatives were good.
The report advises Bolton to ensure its planned strategies contain targets for improving tenant satisfaction and to engage the city's ethnic minority population.
Source
Housing Today
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