Sheffield Homes get three star inspection result

£285million released for council homes in Sheffield

The Government has awarded Sheffield Homes the maximum three star rating with promising prospects for improvement following a recent inspection.

This is a fantastic achievement, underlined by the fact that from over 700 housing inspections carried out, only around 20 have been given three stars, and very few of these have been for as comprehensive a service as Sheffield’s.

Sheffield Homes is the largest Arms Length Management Organisation in the country and the only one in the north with 3 stars.

This is hugely significant for tenants in Sheffield and means that Sheffield Homes can now access an additional £285million, already allocated by the Government, to spend on improving their homes.

Professor Tony Crook, Chair of the Sheffield Homes Board of Directors, said:

“This three star rating means that we can now improve 29,000 council homes, installing thousands of new kitchens, bathrooms, central heating systems, and windows for tenants.

“I’m absolutely delighted with this result. Not only have staff worked incredibly hard to set up a brand new organisation this year but they have also improved on the existing high standard of service our tenants receive from us.

I’m glad that the inspectors found so many good things to praise in their report including our performance on customer service, resident involvement, and tackling anti social behaviour. We will not be complacent, and will work hard to maintain this very high standard and get our massive investment programme underway, starting in January.”

Councillor Chris Weldon, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, said:

“This is great news and a giant step towards transforming council housing by investing in the home of every tenant in the city. A huge amount of work has been done to get us to where we are today including the Neighbourhood Commissions, ballots, and funding bids. Tenants have been at the heart of the process and they will now start to see real benefits.”

“Today’s announcement will benefit the city as a whole as part of our commitment to creating successful neighbourhoods, places where people choose to live. Decent homes are a key element of a successful neighbourhood,” he added.

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will now release £285million to spend on thousands of new windows, central heating systems, bathrooms, and kitchens for tenants in the central, Brightside, South West, South East, and Parson Cross, Foxhill and Herries areas of Sheffield.

Some of the areas the inspectors singled out for praise in their report were:

• Strong customer focus with regular customer service monitoring
• Effective resident involvement and a culture of equality and diversity
• Improving responsive repairs service with easy reporting
• Effective handling of disrepair claims, promotion of energy efficiency and efficient annual gas servicing programme
• Agreed investment programmes with tenants and good working relations with investment partners
• Improved turn around time and standards for vacant properties
• Providing value for money in many areas
• Good range of rent payment options and reduction in rent arrears
• Effective tenancy enforcement to prevent anti social behaviour
• Improved estate services and garden waste recycling
• Fair, open and honest choice based lettings with the helpful property shop
• A specialist community homefinders team

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Contact: Claire Turner, Communications Officer, on 0114 273 6934