Corporation accuses association of being too slow to deal with tenant complaints
One of England’s leading development associations has received an official drubbing for management failings.

London-based Ujima Housing Association volunteered for a pathfinder Housing Corporation inspection. But the result was less than complimentary, citing low tenant satisfaction and complaints over failure to answer letters.

Ujima gained the highest Housing Corporation grant of 2001 – £39m – and its £27m this year was the fourth highest. New lettings have increased from about 250 to 600 since 1998.

The inspectors found the association had geared up its development department to ensure it hit its targets but had made no changes to the lettings system to cope with the pressure.

The association brought in a new computer system in 2001 that prevented it from providing management information.

No reports on responsive repairs went to the board and Ujima could not provide the information to the inspectors.

The inspectors said the repairs system had been good in the past but criticised current targets as too low. They said tenants had difficulty reporting repairs and the service appeared to be worse than a year before.

Tenants had difficulty reporting repairs and one in five homes had no current gas safety certificate

They urged action on gas safety checks after finding one in five homes had no current certificate.

They said the association’s best value performance plan was drawn up with “little board involvement or leadership”. Reviews were completed with minimal input from residents, and no other stakeholders were consulted at all. The association was told to prioritise the election of tenant representatives to the board.

But the corporation praised Ujima for speed and vigour in implementing an action plan to put right the problems.

Acting chief executive Ponniah Rasanesan said the criticisms were a mixture of bad timing and technical problems. “We are always planning and implementing,” he said.

“People coming in for a few days can interpret things as a problem not dealt with.

“We spent £70,000 on a new telephone system and increased our management staff. The computer problem was a temporary blip, not a big issue.”