05 May 2006
West Kent Housing Association has become the first registered social landlord to receive the maximum of three stars from Audit Commission inspectors.
The RSL, which owns 5,678 homes, was praised for excellent management of its estates and high levels of customer satisfaction with repairs and maintenance.
The commission took over inspections of RSLs from the Housing Corporation three years ago and introduced a common scoring system for councils and RSLs in May 2004.
Since then, only local authorities and council-owned arm's-length management organisations have gained three stars.
In 1989, Sevenoaks Council transferred its homes to West Kent in what was only the second large-scale voluntary transfer in England. Sarah Harrison, the Audit Commission's inspection project leader, said the result showed a commitment to being 'more than just a landlord'.
Patrick Mooney, the commission's head of housing in the southern region, said the RSL could improve further by making better use of performance management data and giving residents more say in business decisions.
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