Praise from watchdog

Praise from watchdog for "doing most things well"

William Sutton Homes, part of Affinity Sutton, was rated as doing most things well by independent housing inspectors the Audit Commission. 

The regulatory government body declared that the affordable housing provider had “more strengths than weaknesses” and particularly praised the affordable housing provider's “strong approach to delivering value for money in its repairs service.” 

The short notice inspection, on the 12 to 14 January, focused on responsive repairs, gas servicing and resident involvement and included an assessment of access and customer care, diversity and value for money.

Strengths which inspectors praised were that:

• Repairs were carried out promptly and generally completed on the first visit.
• Residents can easily access services by telephone or in person and satisfaction with services is generally high.
• Annual property MOTs.
• An enhanced community investment fund.
• Residents are influencing the way services are delivered and have played a key role in improving the repairs service.
• The percentage of properties with a current gas safety certificate has consistently exceeded 99.5 per cent.

However the inspectors found more could be done to understand the diversity of residents so that services can be tailored to meet their needs.

Hugh Boatswain, Audit Commission Lead Housing Inspector, said:  “William Sutton Homes has a strong approach to delivering value for money in its repairs service and is now also achieving this in its gas servicing programme. Residents have a range of opportunities for involvement and are influencing how their services are delivered. “

Neil McCall, Group Operations Director for Affinity Sutton, said:  “We are pleased that the inspectors have found that we are doing most things well and have particularly praised our repairs service and our approach to delivering value for money.  We also recognise that we need to work on developing comprehensive service standards across our business, understanding the profile of our resident groups and improving the complaints process and are focused on providing more tailored services to our residents.”