Surprise surprise

When staff at A2Dominion were told last November that the group’s southern region faced inspection in less than a week, they resisted the temptation to panic.

Even so, the next two days were hectic for the housing association’s staff as they prepared documents ahead of the Audit Commission inspectors’ visit. Three days later, the short notice inspection was under way. But A2Dominion prides itself on being ‘inspection aware’ and was happy for the commission to see how it operates on a day-to-day basis, without the benefit of months of preparation.

In three areas the inspectors found the association’s strengths outweighed its weaknesses, in two its strengths equalled its weaknesses, but in one, its weaknesses outweighed its strengths.

‘It’s obviously daunting. Life goes on hold,’ says Ellie Broughton, group director of business planning and performance. Then, unexpectedly, she adds: ‘It was almost an enjoyable experience. It was an opportunity to present things that we felt we were good at.’

Short notice inspections began in earnest towards the end of 2008 following a small pilot and are rapidly becoming the norm. In 2008/09, the commission carried out 13 SNIs as part of its annual programme, compared with 41 full or standard inspections. This year it plans to carry out 43 SNIs and just 12 full inspections.

In London and the south east 23 SNI inspections have taken place since October 2008 - that’s more than half the inspections that have taken place nationally.

Snap inspections of Hyde South East, a subsidiary of Hyde Housing Association, and Notting Hill Housing Trust hit the headlines earlier this month when inspectors found weaknesses in both organisations.

The record of the region’s housing associations hasn’t been anything to shout about - none of the housing associations had strengths that outweighed their weaknesses significantly. On average, five had strengths that outweighed weaknesses. Some 17 associations had strengths and weaknesses that were in balance. Hyde South East, meanwhile, is underperforming - its weaknesses outweighing its strengths.

The five days’ notice for an SNI compares with up to six months given to prepare for a full inspection. Visits are also shorter, lasting three days compared with up to 10 for a full inspection. And they are far narrower in scope than the full-scale inspections housing associations had become accustomed to, focusing on up to three areas identified by the Tenant Services Authority as potential concerns.

No stars are awarded, but the commission assesses strengths and weaknesses in each area. Inspectors also examine three cross-cutting themes - access/customer care, diversity and value for money - within the areas selected for inspection.

A2Dominion’s inspection, for example, focused on gas servicing, repairs and resident involvement. While critical of the time taken to carry out repairs, the commission concluded that the landlord generally has more strengths than weaknesses. Ms Broughton believes the inspectors were fair and did not attempt to catch anyone out.

The association sent its improvement or action plan to the commission earlier this month. Since inspection, A2Dominion South has recruited two extra surveyors to carry out post-repair inspections and says it has improved the way that it handles complaints. ‘We’ve diverted resources to getting things done more quickly,’ says Ms Broughton.

Sue Daniels, operations director at First Wessex Housing Group, sees SNIs as a welcome form of free consultancy. Pavilion Housing Association, part of First Wessex, underwent a SNI last March looking at its efforts in providing estate management services and promoting resident involvement. Inspectors, she says, acknowledged that Pavilion was already making changes to enable residents to be more involved in the running of the association. But the SNI meant staff could draw on the expertise of inspectors who often see things from a different perspective. ‘Providing you go in with a positive outlook, it’s a worthwhile experience,’ she adds.

Firm but fair

Roy Irwin, director of housing and economic development at the Audit Commission, says it makes sense to link the period of notice that associations receive to the scale of inspection. Given that SNIs are skewed towards areas seen as possible problems, he feels landlords have so far come out quite well. ‘Performance has been better than one might expect,’ he says. ‘Some things are poor, some OK and some pretty good.’

Alistair McIntosh, chief executive of consultancy Housing Quality Network, is also encouraged by the first results but says reports from the commission, which can be downloaded from the its website, should provide more detailed information. ‘I think they’re bland,’ he says, adding that a table showing the strengths and weaknesses of each association inspected should appear on the site.

Former housing inspector Jim Wilson, now an assistant director with consultant Tribal, sees SNIs as valuable because they give associations less opportunity to ‘tart things up’ before a visit. But the restricted nature of each inspection can produce a slightly ‘jaundiced’ view of a housing association, he adds, and he is concerned that things may be overlooked occasionally. ‘We’re not putting people under the same level of scrutiny,’ he argues.

Now that SNIs are established, landlords can’t rest on their laurels. An ongoing review of inspection methodology by the TSA and the commission, due to report in October, is considering how SNIs can be used for large housing groups and whether they can effectively assess local standards drawn up by individual landlords and tenants.

Under the TSA’s new regulatory framework, local standards do not have to be in place until April 2011. Lisa Pickard, assistant director of tenant standards at the TSA, accepts that it will not be possible for SNIs to cover the hundreds of individual standards that may emerge.

‘Our early thinking is to be much more focused on outcomes,’ she says. ‘What are the tangible benefits to tenants?’

According to Mr Irwin, inspecting local standards will be different, but not necessarily more difficult. ‘It’s about what people should be doing. Are they delivering the deal?’ he says.

The National Housing Federation welcomes the fact that SNIs have reduced paperwork along with the burden of preparing for visits. ‘It’s quite a culture change which people are getting used to,’ says Anna Dent, policy officer at the NHF. ‘Associations look at them as a step towards making improvements.’

Improving safety

One of the particular areas covered by SNIs is gas servicing. Following national concern over the risk of gas explosions - an issue that was highlighted in Inside Housing’s Safe As Houses campaign - gas servicing will feature in the majority of inspections. Circle 33 Housing Trust was told last year to improve the compliance rate of gas equipment in a SNI that also included income management and repairs. It was later given excellent prospects for improvement.

Carol Carter, managing director of Circle 33, says the ‘excellent prospects’ verdict showed it had policies in place to make improvements. ‘There weren’t any weaknesses identified that we are not working on, but it’s useful to have external validation,’ she adds.

PCHA was inspected last July, less than a month after Olu Olanrewaju took over as managing director. Although inspectors concluded that it had more weaknesses than strengths in both areas inspected - anti-social behaviour and service charges - Mr Olanrewaju was not too disappointed. ‘It was quite helpful and gave me a more detailed insight into some issues,’ he says. ‘It was a platform for improvement.’

Since July, PCHA has installed a new IT system that monitors the way staff tackle anti-social behaviour and emphasises enforcement as well as preventative work. The association is providing residents with better information on service charges and has up to 12 months to carry out other changes.

Last month, the commission declared that PCHA now has promising prospects for improvement. ‘It gave us a greater focus and a trigger to implement everything we wanted to do much faster,’ says Mr Olanrewaju.

While some social landlords will continue to receive full inspections, SNIs are becoming the main way for the TSA to track performance through the Audit Commission. Most housing associations, it seems, are accepting the criticisms they receive and making changes swiftly, suggesting that SNIs are achieving what they set out to and are a useful indicator for both landlords and tenants.

Those landlords who’ve experienced the knock at the door will likely acknowledge that - whatever their feelings about it at the time - in the long-term, snap inspections can only help everyone to nip flaws in the bud before they get out of control.

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