Merlin Housing Society determined to improve after disappointing first full inspection result
22 Oct 2009
Merlin Housing Society is determined to improve following a zero stars and uncertain prospects score on its first Audit Commission inspection.
The Society, which runs more than 8,000 properties in South Gloucestershire, got a ‘poor’ rating for its housing management services.
Chairman, and Merlin tenant, Les Good said: “Although we’re disappointed with the assessment of our service, we feel we’ve got much we can be proud of .
“As the report says, we’ve made progress on some things that really matter to residents, and this is backed up by the latest figures from a survey we carried out which show that our resident’s satisfaction with their landlord has increased from 71% in 2006 to 82% in September 2009.
“Since we took over in 2007, we’ve made significant improvements to resident’s homes, and fundamental changes to the way we deliver services based on what they’ve told us they want.
“We know that there is room for further improvement. As the Audit Commission found, some parts of our service are not yet performing satisfactorily and that’s not acceptable for our residents or for us. Our vision is to be a first class provider of housing and related services for communities across South Gloucestershire, with our residents at the heart of all that we do and we are determined to continue to improve.”
The Audit Commission Inspection report found that in particular, repairs are not done efficiently, it takes too long to let empty properties and provide adaptations to tenants’ homes, and estate management is not effective.
Chief Executive, Ian Matthews added: “These areas are now our top priority. We’ve already developed a detailed action plan to address them and make sure our residents get the service they’ve told us they want and we know they deserve.
“We are determined to deliver on this plan. We will do as the Audit Commission’s report suggests and build on our strengths to make further improvements over the coming months. We are confident that, at our next inspection we will be able to demonstrate a real difference in the services we deliver for our residents.”