3 things we learned about tenant satisfaction measures from 200 landlords

Phone home 

An important element of the TSMs is how the data is collected as some methods have been found to garner more positive or negative results.

Telephone is by far the preferred collection method. Overall, 184 out of 203 landlords surveyed tenants via the phone. 

Nearly a third of councils (28%) surveyed using phone alone, along with 39% of housing associations. During the collection year, 17 landlords added or increased their use of phone surveys. 

Jonathan Cox, director of data at Housemark, told us that the regulatory framework allows for a range of collection methods, “but the most popular method over the past year has been telephone survey”. 

“This method has a number of advantages – it typically delivers more positive results than online surveys, is cheaper than face-to-face surveys, and allows the landlord to proactively ensure they achieve the minimum sample and representativeness.”

However, Mr Cox said: “Many landlords are increasingly adopting a mix of collection methods, to ensure they are tailoring their approach to resident communication preferences and maximising their sample.”

There is no right or wrong approach, but it is important for landlords to understand that different collection methods carry different survey biases, he added.

The scores 

Our data shows that the average satisfaction for overall services was 69.4% across 203 landlords. For the 89 councils, it was 67.6%; for the 114 housing associations, it was 70.9%. Top performers in the sector were ALMOs, which received an average overall satisfaction score of 74% (more on those shortly).

Comparatively, overall satisfaction with the NHS is 24%, according to The King’s Fund.

Being in the capital generally does not produce high satisfaction levels – only one landlord in the top 10 was London-based: Poplar Harca. A spokesperson for the association told us: “In our experience, the more you listen to and act on what your residents tell you, the higher their satisfaction.”

The landlords with the lowest 10 scores for overall satisfaction included seven councils – four of them London boroughs – and three housing associations. Various survey collection methods were used.

One of the main things a number of landlords with lower scores have in common is recent regulatory intervention, along with being based in large urban areas, particularly London. Haringey Council received a satisfaction score of 50% for overall repairs service, 47% for overall satisfaction and 17% for complaint-handling – the latter two of which were the lowest in London. 

A spokesperson for the council said the work to improve services “has already started, as can be seen in the 2023-24 TSMs survey, with significant improvements to tenant perception across half of the… indicators”. GreenSquareAccord received the lowest overall score with 44%.

Chief executive Ruth Cooke told Inside Housing that the TSM results “are not a surprise”.

“We had been aware for some time that we needed to significantly improve services for customers and have been working to deliver the changes needed. The TSMs have been a great opportunity to hear from customers about where we need to continue to focus and to ensure our plans are addressing what matters to them,” she explained. 

ALMOs score highly

We have seen a spate of ALMO closures, but could we see more be created as the consumer regime progresses?

Overall, ALMOs came out with higher overall satisfaction scores – 74% on average, three percentage points higher than housing associations and six percentage points higher than councils with direct control over the management of their homes.

Stockport Homes is the top scorer overall in our data with 91% for overall satisfaction. A spokesperson said: “Historically and prior to the introduction of tenants satisfaction measure, [Stockport] has always collected and analysed customer feedback and complaints data and used this insight to inform service delivery.”