Tenant satisfaction surveys
What can social landlords learn from the current survey trends?
INNOVATION & IMPROVEMENT
Image: Istock
Fraser Campbell
Senior Tenant Engagement Consultant, CX-Feedback
Francesca Stanyer
Policy and Research Manager, Campbell Tickell
Issue 69 | December 2023
Social landlords are working hard to collect Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs) data ahead of the 31 March deadline. Here, Campbell Tickell’s Policy and Research Manager, Francesca Stanyer, and Fraser Campbell, Senior Tenant Engagement Consultant at CX-Feedback, a tenant engagement platform, discuss emerging survey trends and the key takeaways for landlords.
TSMs explained
TSMs were introduced by the Regulator for Social Housing. Social landlords with more than 1000 homes have been required since April 2023 to collect and report on their performance against a core set of 22 defined measures. The purpose is to assess how well the landlord is doing at providing quality homes and services, and to provide tenants with greater transparency about their landlord’s performance.
“SMS text messaging attains a 100% higher response rate than when surveys are sent via email!”
Collection methods
With regard to collection methods, according to CX-Feedback, they have observed that SMS text messaging attains a 100% higher response rate than when surveys are sent via email!
When using digital means, residents over the age of 45 are overrepresented in the data every single time, sometimes twice the number that are in the sample size. That’s not taking into account telephone surveys.
There isn’t a drastic difference in dissatisfaction based on whether a survey is self-completed or collected via telephone. There is around a 5-10% drop in satisfaction via self-completion methods, however, this slight drop is from a higher percentage of respondents saying “not sure” rather than being dissatisfied.
Surprising results
The results so far are surprising, especially with where the highest scores are sitting out of the 12 perception-based TSMs. The highest rated areas are repairs satisfaction at an average of 69%, satisfaction that the home is safe at an average of 71%, and being treated with respect at an average 67%.
However, anti-social behaviour (ASB) and complaints-handling are the perception-based TSMs where social landlords are seen as performing the least positively, with the average satisfaction for ASB at 51% and complaints at 29%.
“The sector doesn’t benefit from you gaming the system and tenants certainly don’t benefit from you gaming the system.”
Key takeaways for landlords
1. Clear communication
It is very clear that the importance of landlords being in regular communication with their residents cannot be overstated. Some providers make more effort to communicate with residents about the work they’re doing in their neighbourhood and opening the dialogue for continued feedback. The higher results for repairs, safety and respect may be due to residents having had more interactions with their landlords, while they may not have had a direct reason or interaction around some of the other TSMs. Again, proactively communicating with residents and giving them positive evidence to base their answers on may go a long way.
2. Building relationships
There is a growing need to ensure housing providers are building their relationship with their residents throughout their tenancy. Consider typically hard-to-reach groups – such as younger people – and engage with them meaningfully throughout the year, so that your organisation is better informed about their concerns, plus when the TSM survey comes around next time, they are more likely to engage with it and give their view. Additionally, taking a more personalised approach when contacting hard-to-reach groups is proving to be successful. One method could be sending out the survey on the anniversary of their tenancy. This also means you get rolling data which will be more meaningful to understand and improve.
3. Proactive expectations
Landlords need to be proactive in setting expectations around areas of ASB and complaints and shouldn’t just rely on providing a handbook at the start of the tenancy. Regularly communicate with residents about what you can do around ASB and how complaints will be handled, so when you are dealing with ASB or complaints as you’ve set out, they are more likely to be satisfied.
4. Understand your residents
Lastly, don’t fall into the trap of thinking this is about ticking boxes or league tables. Use the TSMs as a can opener to understand what your residents think and how you can use their feedback for continuous improvement. The sector doesn’t benefit from people ‘gaming’ the system and tenants certainly won’t benefit from such an approach.
