Quality housing is about more than providing a roof overhead—it’s about creating communities where residents feel safe and supported. That requires ongoing work behind the scenes, from preventative maintenance to inspections.
To help strengthen those efforts, the Housing Authority of the City of Asheville (HACA) recently partnered with Premier Property Maintenance, a company that specializes in property management and maintenance services for affordable housing communities.
The partnership is designed to complement the work already being performed by HACA staff while helping the agency strengthen housing quality, improve operational efficiency, and to meet evolving federal inspection standards.
A New Partnership to Support Residents
Premier Property Maintenance has experience working with housing authorities and affordable housing communities across North Carolina. At HACA, the company will work alongside staff to support maintenance efforts, assist with inspections, and help prepare apartments for new residents.
The partnership will also place a strong emphasis on preventative maintenance.
“When you address small issues early, you can often prevent larger and more costly problems later,” says Scott Lyerly, owner of Premier Property Maintenance. “That benefits residents, protects public housing resources, and helps keep communities operating smoothly.”
But for Lyerly, successful maintenance programs are about more than inspections and repairs.
“Residents want to know that when they report an issue, someone is going to respond, communicate clearly, and follow through,” he says. “Good maintenance is about trust.”
Understanding NSPIRE
One of the ways HACA measures and maintains housing quality is through HUD’s National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate, commonly known as NSPIRE.
NSPIRE is HUD’s inspection model for public housing and affordable housing properties. The standards focus on the conditions that most directly affect residents’ health, safety, and quality of life.
For housing authorities like HACA, NSPIRE inspections help evaluate the overall condition of housing communities and identify areas that may need attention. They also play an important role in helping housing authorities maintain access to federal funding.
“Those resources allow us to invest in our communities and continue providing safe, quality housing for residents,” says Santos.
What Residents Can Expect
As the partnership with Premier moves forward, the goal is to respond to maintenance requests faster and to continue to improve communication with residents.
Additionally, the partnership is expected to help reduce vacancies by preparing apartments for new occupants more quickly when units become available, allowing families on HACA’s waiting lists to move into housing sooner.
“Every day a unit sits vacant is a missed opportunity to house a family that needs it,” Santos says. “Efficient maintenance and unit turnover processes help us make the best use of our housing resources while serving more people.”
