Star rating system unveiled

Inspection teams set up to scrutinise local authority housing could struggle to carry out the demands of the job, it is feared.

Housing bodies are worried inspectors will be unable to cope with the 100 housing inspections the Audit Commission expects each year, even though many will be carried out by private consultants.

And the commission's proposals to publish a 'star rating' of the housing service based on the inspectors' judgements have rejected as too simplistic.

The paper was published as housing minister Hilary Armstrong told parliament there had been "strong support" for the government's Best Value in Housing framework, launched in January.

Armstrong said concern about the cost of reviewing services under the regime would be offset by improved efficiency.

Under the proposals, published for consultation this week, inspectors will judge how tenants and homeless families are treated by staff, visit estates, shadow housing officers and track samples of repairs.

Commission director of inspection Paul Vevers told Housing Today: "The more rigorous the authority has been in reviewing itself and if it can demonstrate it is delivering its strategy on the ground, the less inspection it will get. But, of course, we will have to check the reality of that."

Inspectors will then privately show the council an interim judgement, allowing officers to submit additional evidence the inspectors missed. Vevers insisted: "There will be no question of us wrong-footing people."

Local government association housing policy officer Jeanette York said the commission was setting itself "quite a tall order".

National Housing Federation head of housing management and support Liz Potter said: "The methodology and process looks sound but it is ambitious, particularly in the early stages when inspectors are learning.

"There is a real question about inspectors having the competence and expertise to deliver what the commission is aiming for, and whether they will be able to stick to their commitments."

However Chartered Institute of Housing director of professional practice Ross Fraser praised the document as "genuine consultation", claiming it is up to councils to help the inspectors by self-regulation.