Social landlords reveal approach to carrying out surveys for tenant satisfaction measures

ALMOs

Eamon McGoldrick, managing director of the National Federation of ALMOs, says that while a couple of the organisation’s 22 members are considering one-off yearly surveys, the majority are planning to do tracker surveys for TSMs. 

Barnet Homes, which manages 15,000 homes on behalf of Barnet Council and where Mr McGoldrick is board chair, is planning to do a monthly rolling survey. 

“It gives you a chance to pick up where you’re at rather than waiting 12 months. 

“If you have a bad couple of months in the beginning of the year, you’ve got a chance to find out why and correct it over the next 10 months,” he explains. 

He believes that ALMOs’ focus on housing management has led to the heavier lean towards tracker surveys. “That is our bread and butter. Measuring performance, tracking, looking for improvement and picking up areas of weakness is effectively what we’re contracted to do,” he adds. 

One ALMO intending to do an annual survey – at least for the first year – is Berneslai Homes. The organisation, which manages around 18,000 homes on behalf of Barnsley Council, has already been carrying out a perception survey, known as a STAR survey, which has been amended to include the full range of TSM questions. 

“We will run this annually in June each year and will review our approach after the first year.  

“We have traditionally run STAR in this way as it offers efficiency and consistency,” a spokesperson states. 

Councils 

North Tyneside Council, which currently surveys its tenants every two years, says it will increase the frequency of the survey to be annual. It will include the new TSMs, as well as retain some of the measures the council has baselined over a number of years.

Sandwell Council did a one-off survey last year. It recently published the results of the survey, which found that 68% of tenants were satisfied with the overall service provided by the council.

The council is yet to finalise plans on the next survey, but a spokesperson says “we are minded at this stage to repeat the annual survey, rather than carry out monthly ones”. 

A spokesperson for Gateshead Council, which usually surveys tenants on an annual basis via a combination of online and paper surveys, says it is still looking into what to do. 

It used the full set of TSMs to carry out a tenant satisfaction survey in November and December last year, but received a much smaller return rate than previously. The authority believes the reduced response is due to the number of questions, meaning it takes time to complete the survey. 

A report that went before Wigan Council’s housing advisory panel in March revealed that its approach will be to run a one-off survey from 4 September through to 30 November.

“There will be a full communication campaign in the run up to and during this period to maximise the response rate and to ensure we are transparent with tenants on why we are running the survey and how we will use the results,” the report explained.

Housing associations 

Orbit, which owns and manages more than 46,000 homes, will be doing TSM surveys on a rolling, quarterly basis. 

Paul Richards, group director of customer and communities at Orbit, says understanding residents’ opinions on the way the housing association works “has always been invaluable in helping us to further improve our offering”. 

He adds: “As such, we have regularly canvased customer feedback through a number of channels, including being an early adopter of the Together with Tenants programme and partnering with the Institute of Customer Service to run UK customer satisfaction index surveys.

“We have utilised our experience in this field to define our TSM methodology to ensure we can garner the most accurate, inclusive and representative data in line with the regulator’s requirements. 

“Our approach will be led by our experienced research and insight team who have selected a market research company to conduct the surveys on our behalf.”

Mr Richards states that quarterly surveys will enable Orbit to identify and respond to feedback in a “timely manner, while reducing the influence seasonal considerations can have on surveys which are only performed at one point in time”.

The surveys will be done over the phone as the majority residents have said that is their preferred method, which “should therefore harvest the most inclusive and representative sample”, he adds.

LiveWest, which owns and manages more than 39,000 homes, is surveying residents on a continuous basis throughout the year using weekly, randomly generated contact lists. The system is controlled to make sure households are not contacted more than once a year. 

The association’s primary approach is an in-house telephone survey, but it offers a range of alternatives in cases where accessibility may be a problem. 

A LiveWest spokesperson says: “By building our sample across the financial year, we are less exposed to any seasonal variations that may influence customer perception and by regularly monitoring our sample groups, we are able to adjust our approach throughout the year to ensure that our sample groups are proportionate by any key characteristics. 

“This minimises the risk of any significant changes in our results at year end and minimises any need to weight our survey results at year end.”

A2Dominion, which owns and manages more than 39,000 homes, is doing a monthly “anniversary” survey. 

Gary Blatcher, director of customer experience at A2Dominion, says: “This means the feedback is staggered through the year and triggered by a customer’s tenancy anniversary month.”

Metropolitan Thames Valley, which owns and manages around 57,000 homes, says it has always carried out perception surveys among residents. The surveys have been adjusted to include the TSMs. 

The landlord says it will be conducting a monthly rolling perception survey throughout the year.

“We will closely monitor the responses and analyse how representative they are in relation to the residents we house. We will adjust our approach accordingly to target any under-represented groups,” a spokesperson explains. 

Notting Hill Genesis, which manages and owns more than 66,000 homes, confirms it will be carrying out quarterly surveys.

Bromford, which owns and manages around 46,000 homes, says it has prepared for the launch of the TSMs by running shadow perception surveys from autumn. It spoke to 600 residents using a mixture of online, phone calls and face-to-face channels to collect the feedback.

“Carrying out these surveys has helped us to decide that because of our size and the number of surveys we will need to complete, we will be running the surveys throughout the year rather than holding a one-off survey,” a spokesperson explains. 

London-based Hexagon, which owns and manages around 4,500 homes, will be collecting the TSM data quarterly. Chief executive Sheron Carter says the association wants to have a “more frequent pulse check”. 

Bromsgrove District Housing Trust, which has a similar number of homes as Hexagon, is also conducting the survey quarterly. The perception surveys will be done via post and email. 

A spokesperson says: “We believe that listening to customers helps us to shape new services and continuously improve our offering and ensure we give excellent customer services.   

“At the end of the year, the results are annualised to provide perception results in line with the new TSMs.”

Estuary Housing Association, which owns and manages more than 4,600 homes, says it is conducting 500 telephone interviews per quarter to collect the data. 

“The rationale for telephone interviews is to be able to ask follow-up questions with our customers. We’re preparing an amended version for our supported living customers,” a spokesperson adds.