East End housing organisation gets ‘good’ rating
AN East End housing organisation is providing a “good” service, the latest government inspection has said.
Tower Hamlets Homes, which manages 12,500 council properties and 9,000 rented homes in the borough, has pulled itself up from the zero rating it received two years ago to two stars out of three from the Audit Commission.
It was praised for its strong services for vulnerable people and good customer focus,
The report, published on Monday, said: “The organisation carries out repairs and re-lets properties quickly while performance in servicing gas appliances is excellent.”
But THH needs to act on reported cases of anti-social behaviour quicker, officers added.
Audit Commission senior manager, Hugh Boatswain, said: “The services at Tower Hamlets Homes are improving while the high costs are reducing fast.
“Residents have plenty of opportunities to be involved and this is helping to improve the service.
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“Rent collection rates are high while eviction rates are low. However correspondence is not always replied to promptly.”
Inspectors recommended that the organisation improves its communication with residents and taking a new approach to tackle under-occupation of much-needed properties.
Gavin Cansfield, chief executive of Tower Hamlets Homes said: “We are very happy with the result as it shows that we have significantly improved services in the two and a half years since it was set up.
“We knew it would be a challenge to do absolutely everything in the short amount of time. We welcome the observations and recommendations outlined in the report and will strive to continue to improve services.”
