Strategic housing service secures fair result
Strategic housing services in Dartford have been identified as amongst the best in the south east by the national inspection body, The Audit Commission, in their latest inspection report, with the Council being awarded a one star ‘fair assessment with promising prospects for improvement.
The report followed an inspection of strategic housing services at Dartford Borough Council in September 2008 – looking at the way the Council provides non-landlord services including homelessness, housing advice, private sector housing and the delivery of new homes to meet local demand.
The inspectors assessed Dartford as ‘fair’, one star service that has promising prospects for improvement and suggested a number of objective recommendations to help these prospects to materialise. A number of these recommendations are already in hand and this is acknowledged in the report.
Key successes highlighted by the Audit Inspection included the fact that the Council had:
- A good understanding of housing needs
- Made significant progress in tackling homelessness and reducing use of temporary accommodation
- Effective regulation of the private rented sector and good partnership with private landlords
Pat Coleman, Portfolio Holder for Housing, said the report confirmed the good progress the Council has made as a housing provider:
“The report is an accurate assessment of the service we provide and I congratulate the Council’s strategic housing team for its achievements so far.
“The Thames Gateway brings significant challenges in terms of housing provision and it is good to note our approach to these is considered to be strong. We’ve a dedicated housing team that is determined to deliver excellent housing services and this report clearly highlights our robust management of borough-wide housing issues.”
The Audit Commission has also set out improvement opportunities, including the approach to diversity, increasing the range of home improvement products and focusing on homes in the poorest conditions.
