ACHA standards on rise but room for improvement
ARGYLL Community Housing Association (ACHA) has published its 2014/15 Landlord Report, measuring its performance against the standards set out by the Scottish Housing Charter.
The Scottish Housing Charter was introduced by the Scottish Government in 2012 to look after the interests of tenants.
The report rates the quality and value of the service that should be provided.
Improvements in ACHA’s performance include tenant satisfaction rising from 71 per cent to 78 per cent since 2013/4, and the association’s repair service receiving a 97.6 per cent satisfaction rate, up from 96.7 for the previous year.
However, there is still room for improvement with regards to its complaints procedure.
Stage one complaints responded to in full have increased from 85.86 per cent to 93.18, but this is still below the Scottish average of 97.82 per cent. And while stage one complaints dealt with rose from 44.44 per cent to 63.41 per cent, it was still well below the national average of 81.81 per cent.
Stage two complaints, which are those not dealt with at stage one, or more complicated than stage one complaints, were dramatically lower than the national average, and have fallen since last year.
In 2013/4, ACHA responded to stage two complaints 97.30 per cent of the time, but that figure has dropped to 82.35 per cent, more than 10 per cent below the national average of 92.66 per cent.
Stage two complaints responded to within 20 working days are down from 59.46 per cent last year to 42.86 per cent this year, again dramatically lower than the 74.59 per cent average.
Alastair MacGregor, ACHA’s chief executive said: ‘The association has not carried out a full tenant satisfaction survey since the introduction of the charter, so some of the satisfaction levels we are reporting on are historic.
‘ We will carry out a full tenant satisfaction survey to tie in with our next landlord report. Areas of improvement that we are able to report on include tenant satisfaction with their home when they move in. This has increased from a 71 per cent to78 per cent satisfaction rate.
‘I am also pleased to advise that overall satisfaction with ACHA’s repairs service has increased from 96.7 per cent to 97.6 per cent, compared with 2013/14.
‘The association has a small number of stage two complaints where our performance has slipped in this area from last year in terms of response time. Monthly reporting measures have been introduced that have improved performance in this area, which will be fully reflected in next year’s figures.
‘The association is committed to improving our services to tenants and other service users, and the areas in the landlord report we need to improve on will be prioritised.’
Copies of the report are available at: www.acha.co.uk/press/ PDF/ ACHA_ Landlord_ Report_ 2014-15.pdf