Housing associations: tenant satisfaction survey: What tenants think about their social landlord and home

Welsh Government has recently published a new report - Housing associations: tenant satisfaction survey: What tenants think about their social landlord and home.

As part of the current 5-year social housing rent policy, landlords agreed to undertake a standardised tenant satisfaction survey which would be published to assist tenants in scrutinising and comparing landlord performance.

The intention was for the survey results to be available for publication by April 2021 and surveys to be carried out at least bi-annually thereafter. However, as a result of the COVID 19 pandemic over the last year, social landlords have been focussing on business continuity and delivering services in challenging circumstances. Tenants have also been dealing with multiple issues as a result of the pandemic including health, wellbeing and economic pressures.

Tenant satisfaction surveys and data returns were understandably not a priority for social landlords or their tenants during 2020, so Welsh Government have published data they hold for each social landlord across some standard questions.

Please note, this is not a complete dataset as questions were not standardised and survey methodologies differed. Additionally, it is important to note the timeframe when surveys were undertaken varies. The survey findings should therefore be used with caution and any conclusions drawn should be triangulated as appropriate. In April 2022 Welsh Government will publish the results of a standard set of core satisfaction questions, surveys will be not more than 2 years old and survey methodologies will ensure a consistent confidence rate is achieved. Surveys will then be published annually.

The existing data allows comparison of tenant’s satisfaction across the following areas;

• service provided by the landlord
• quality of their home
• repairs and maintenance
• the neighbourhood
• value for money
• how well the landlord listens to them

The additional questions from April 2022 will allow tenants to compare:

• health and safety of the home
• anti-social behaviour
• the tenants ability to get involved with decision making
• trust and respect

Read the full report here