West Yorkshire Housing Association has been placed under supervision after an inspection found that failures in its services had jeopardised tenants' safety.
The Housing Corporation stepped in after the 800-home registered social landlord received one of the worst ratings ever handed out by the Audit Commission.

The inspectors' report, published on Tuesday, highlighted poor management of gas supply, weak repairs service, unclear procedures for tackling antisocial behaviour and limited opportunities for tenant involvement.

"Our main concern is about the management of gas servicing, which we felt could have a serious impact on the safety of tenants," said Nick Atkin, head of housing (North region) at the Audit Commission.

The corporation will now work with the association to produce an action plan for improvements and to supervise its implementation.

A corporation spokeswoman said it would then conduct an assessment, which would be published in the near future.

It has not made appointments to the association's board.

West Yorkshire HA refused to discuss the report's findings. However, the association's chief executive, Solo, said in a statement he recognised that the report had raised serious concerns that needed to be addressed as a matter of priority.

  • Audit Commission inspectors have also found "considerable scope for improvement" at Three Rivers Housing Association, based in Durham, and at Liverpool's Cosmopolitan Housing Association.

    In a report published on 22 June inspectors said Three Rivers, which manages 2700 homes, ran its gas services poorly and had a lack of clear policies for dealing with antisocial behaviour.

    But a Three Rivers spokeswoman said 97% of tenants' gas boilers had a valid serviced certificate. "The issue for us is overcoming the problem of gaining access to some tenants' homes," she said.

    A spokesperson at Cosmopolitan said there was "disappointment" at the report.

    • Source

    Housing Today