Somer Community is first association to get Audit Commission star rating

Somer Community Housing Trust is the first housing association to get a star rating for its services to tenants, writes Mark Beveridge.

The Bath-based registered social landlord was awarded two stars out of three by Audit Commission inspectors in the first report produced since the commission started using the star system for housing associations in June.

This means Somer, which owns about 9000 homes, can directly compare its performance with that of council housing departments.

Somer was inspected in June; the time lag is due to the time it has taken to write the report.

By the beginning of October, all Audit Commission reports that deal with RSLs will include star ratings.

Vicky Hale-Monro, divisional director of care and support at Somer, led its preparations for inspection. She said she was “extremely happy” with the result and praised the rating system.

“The star system and the commission’s recommendations give a good steer on what it expects and how we can improve,” she said.

According to the inspectors’ report, Somer has “delivered on the range of promises made to residents when the housing stock was transferred from Bath & North East Somerset council” in 1999.

The report commended the association for tackling racist and antisocial behaviour and for giving its tenants a greater say in the delivery of services.

Shayne Hembrow, the Audit Commission’s lead housing inspector, said: “[Somer] has devoted considerable resources to achieving improvement and the quality of the services for tenants demonstrates this.”

However, the inspectors told Somer to do more to check the quality of work done by contractors.