In the south of Scotland, a housing association which owns hundreds of homes has been asked to improve its services. However, it has been told it is going in the ?right direction?, BBC News has reported.
Though the Scottish Housing Regulator gave the Berwickshire Housing Association (BHA) a ?fair? rating, indicating the group had some strengths, it said too that there were other areas which needed improvement. BHA chairman Michael Calvert said it was ?keen to put in place? the actions suggested by the regulators.
BHA owns about 1,750 houses throughout Berwickshire and operate out of Duns in the Scottish Borders.
The Scottish Housing Regulator?s head of inspection Michael Cameron, though critical, praised the Association for the way they treat their customers and their determination: ?The association has a clear focus on improving its services to customers, is doing this in a range of ways and has further plans for improvement. The association made a number of immediate changes to its services in response to the inspection.?
Mr Cameron also said: ?However, BHA needs to improve its performance management, the management of its repairs service and it also needs to ensure its approach to lettings fully meets housing need.? Business planning issues were also areas that Mr Cameron felt the BHA could improve on.
Overall though, BHA director Helen Forsyth found the inspection process had been ?very positive? and a sign that they were heading in the right direction: ?We will be working on our improvement plan from now and will prioritise our strategy to deliver planned efficiencies.?
