On 26 November, the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) published
its
analysis of the first set of Tenant Satisfaction Measures
(TSMs) collected by council and housing association social
landlords. The TSMs are a set of questions that landlords need to
ask tenants about their housing experiences, together with
management information about the delivery of key services.
RSH also published the results of its
National Tenants Survey, an independent survey of a sample of
tenants, to provide greater insight into the factors that influence
TSM results, and to serve as an independent benchmark for
landlords' TSM results.
The key findings are:
- The biggest driver of overall satisfaction is a tenant's view
of their landlord's repairs service and how well their home is
maintained - both of which relate to the requirements in RSH's
consumer standards. It is this, above other factors, that is likely
to increase overall satisfaction.
- Most social housing tenants (over 70%) are satisfied with their
landlord's service, feel their home is safe and well maintained,
and that their landlord treats them with fairness and respect.
- However, there is still room for improvement across the sector,
with around one in five tenants not satisfied with their landlord's
service, and only one third of affected tenants satisfied with the
way their landlord handles complaints.
- Shared owners are less satisfied than other social housing
tenants across a range of issues, with around 50% satisfied with
their landlord's overall service.
- Through the management information TSMs, most landlords
report that they have completed the required health and safety
checks - including fire, gas, asbestos, lift and water safety. They
have also reported that the majority of tenants live in homes
meeting the Decent Homes Standard.