We retained our Charter Mark and Investors in People accreditations - both for the fourth successive time!  Click on the icons to read the assessors' reports.

  Charter Mark Assessor's Report

   Investor in People Assessor's Report

Charter Mark holders are re-visited and assessed on their progress each year and we recently received our first 'surveillance' visit.  The Assessor found us compliant in all but two of the 63 criteria and considered we had demonstrated 'best practice' in two areas.   Click on the link below to view a summarised version of the assessor's report.

  Chartermark Surveillance Report.

 Driving and shopping scheme

Making the most of your money

Six-in-one Club Consultation

 Children in Need 2007

Joining Forces

  Sprightly Surfers 

Annual General Meeting 

Celebrating our Community

Russet Homes gets 4 green lights in Hsg Corp Assessment

Older people take active measures

Independent Living

Majorettes get new sponsorship

 School website gets sponsorship boost

Russet Homes delivers good housing management services 

 Local people have their say 

Ladies moved into the homes of their choice 

On 1st April 2008 we entered into a contract with Osbornes, who will carry out day to day maintenance and repairs and improvement works for voids. Our Contact Russet team remains at the heart of the new partnering arrangements and repairs should be reported using the free phone number 0800 197 2880.

 A feature of the new service will be better arrangements for booking appointments. Hand held computers are carried to update the repairs team on job progress and job orders can be downloaded so staff do not have to keep returning to the office, helping provide a better service to customers, as well as improving efficiency.  The new look to the service arose from customer feedback, with suggesions from a repairs conference, our Tenant Repairs User Group and individual responses from customers returning their reply-paid repair receipts.

Click here to view a copy of Russet News Extra for more information,

As part of Circle Anglia we will be able to build more new homes and will be the group's repesentative for our region. We will continue to operate from our existing offices in Tonbridge, Larkfield and Borough Green and our Board of Management will continue as before.

Click here for more information about what joining the group will mean for Russet Homes and for our tenants.

To see some of the questions raised during the consultation process and our resonse, please click here.

 More information about Circle Anglia, one of the largest affordable housing providers in the UK, visit the website: www.circleanglia.co.uk 

Our arrangement to provide the homelessness service and maintain the Housing Register on behalf of Tonbridge & Malling BC has now ended by mutual consent.  We are still managing our Transfer List and administering mutual exchanges, but applications for housing should now be made direct to the appropriate local authority.

Click here to see the new Guarantees.

Converting to a charitable housing association will reinforce our status as a 'not for profit' organisation based on providing affordable accommodation and services to people in need.  It will also put us in step with most other Registered Social Landlords and has benefits for the organisation in respect of tax liability and opportunies forfunding  in the future.

To convert in this way, we will need to prove that our current business is 'charitable' and that the majority of our tenants and future tenants could be considered 'proper beneficiaries of a charity'.  We have taken legal advice that indicates that an application would be successful and the Board now wishes to consult with residents and stakeholders before taking a final decision on whether to move forward.

We have written to all tenants, leaseholders and stakeholders, giving them information about the proposal and to ask for their views.  Click here for a copy of the factsheet sent out with this letter.   You can download a copy of the reply form, or email your comments directly to lesley.hardwick@russethomes.org.  If you would like to discuss the proposals, please ring us on 01732 781935, or come to one of the open meetings we will be holding at the end of August:

• Wednesday 27 August, 7.00pm at the 6 in 1 Club, Northwood Road, Tonbridge
• Thursday 28 August, 4.00pm, East Malling Village Hall, New Road, East Malling.

 Click here to open the report summary.               

If you want the report in full, click here              

After an exhaustive assessment of our work, the Audit Commission has judged that Russet Homes' housing management services are "good" with access to services, information for residents, the quality of our homes and repairs, and our support for older and vulnerable tenants all being positive features. Overall, we received a 2 star rating (out of 3)

The Lead Housing Inspector for the South East said: "Russet Homes is delivering good quality housing management services to its tenants, leading to high levels of customer satisfaction. Significant investment in its properties has ensured that tenants' homes are well-maintained, and complaints about anti-social behaviour are well managed."

The Audit Commission was also helpful in pointing out how we could make the prospects for improving our service more certain than they are at present. They asked us to look at monitoring customer service standards, fast tracking major disabled adaptations and seeking out more efficiency savings. It also said that we can strengthen resident involvement in shaping future priorities and plans. We will take all of these suggestions on board to improve our services still further.