The regulator’s annual analysis shows only one in three residents satisfied with their landlord’s complaint handling
Almost one in five (18%) social housing tenants are dissatisfied with their landlord’s overall services, according to new analysis by the Regulator for Social Housing (RSH).
In analysis published today (4 November) of large social landlords’ Tenant Satisfaction Measure (TSM) results, the regulator found that 70% of tenants in low cost rental accommodation (LCRA) - which includes social and affordable rent - are content with overall services.
However, there is scope to improve in areas such as complaint handling, where only 36% of residents reported satisfaction - a 1% increase from last year.
Residents in LCRA reported the highest levels of satisfaction with overall repairs services (74%), that their home is safe (78%) and that their landlord treats them with fairness and respect (78%).
Fiona MacGregor, chief executive at RSH, described this year’s TSM results as “early signs of improvement on last year,” when 19% of tenants reported overall disatisfaction. However, the figures remain largely unchanged from 2023/24.
She said the findings should “lead to better strategic decisions and stronger engagement with residents.”
>>See also: Fiona McGregor to step down as RSH chief in April
Nearly half a million tenants were surveyed by registered providers for the analysis, reporting on a range of issues such as whether their home was well-maintained and if their landlord listens and acts on their views.
Survey answers were collected using several methods, including telephone, face-to-face, online and postal.
There are 22 TSMs, including 12 “tenant perception” questions that landlords must ask residents and 10 “management information” questions that landlords complete themselves, relating to repairs, complaints and anti-social behaviour.
The results also showed that shared owners remain less satisfied overall than other housing tenants (48%) and that most landlords report full compliance on each building safety measure.
Meanwhile, 79% of the 11 million non-emergency responsive repairs were completed within target timescales over the year.
MacGregor added: “The TSMs are one part of our work to support transparency and accountability in the sector and landlords should reflect on their results to see how they can make services to tenants better.
“We continue to use a range of tools, including our inspections, to drive landlords to improve social housing long-term.”
This is the second year of TSM collection and publication by the RSH, with results indicating “modest” improvements on reported health and safety performance in management information, particularly for checks on asbestos, water and lifts, according to RSH.
The regulator said it is following up with landlords whose TSM results indicate they are outliers – including on health and safety indicators and where it has concerns about the quality of providers’ data.
Landlords owning 1,000 homes or more need to submit their results annually to RSH.
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