After the tragic events of Grenfell in 2017 the Government conducted many investigations and consultations into how tenants of Social Landlord tenants are treated across the county.  This lead to the publishing of the Social Housing White paper that contained several recommendations for improvements.  Some of the recommendations centred around transparency and creating more accountabilities to tenants and residents.

As a result, The Regulator of Social Housing has released the “Tenant Satisfaction Measures Standard” (TSMs) consultation, with 22 proposed measures being a mix of tenant perception surveys and areas measured directly by landlords.

The measures would make up a new Tenant Satisfaction Measures Standard. The consultation will run until 3 March 2022.

To ensure they meet the new Standard, housing providers and local authorities would be required “to, among other things, collect, publish and submit information about their performance against the TSMs in accordance with requirements set out by the regulator”.

There are 10 measures that will be measured by landlords themselves, with 12 being gathered by tenant perception surveys carried out by the landlord.

Below is a summary of proposed TSMs (TP refers to the measures being collected by the tenant perception survey, with the other codes being measured by the landlord itself):

TP= Tenant Perception – These are the points that will be included in future surveys:

Overall satisfaction

• TP01 — Overall satisfaction (Proportion of respondents who report that they are very satisfied or fairly satisfied with the overall service from their landlord)

Keeping Properties in Good Repair

• RP01 — Homes that do not meet the Decent Homes Standard (Proportion of homes that do not meet the Decent Homes Standard)
• RP02 — Repairs completed within target timescale (Proportion of (non-emergency) responsive repairs completed within the provider’s target timescale during the reporting year. For context, providers must also report their target timescales for completing (non-emergency) responsive repairs used to generate this TSM)
• TP02 — Satisfaction with repairs (Proportion of respondents who have received a repair in the last 12 months who report that they are very satisfied or fairly satisfied with the repairs service)
• TP03 — Satisfaction with time taken to complete most recent repair (Proportion of respondents who have received a repair in the last 12 months who report that they are very satisfied or fairly satisfied with the time taken to complete their most recent repair)

Maintaining Building Safety

• BS01 — Gas safety checks (Proportion of homes for which all required gas safety checks have been carried out)
• BS02 — Fire safety checks (Proportion of homes for which all required fire risk assessments have been carried out)
• BS03 — Asbestos safety checks (Proportion of homes for which all required asbestos management surveys or re-inspections have been carried out)
• BS04 — Water safety checks (Proportion of homes for which all required legionella risk assessments have been carried out)
• BS05 — Lift safety checks (Proportion of homes for which all required communal passenger lift safety checks have been carried out)
• TP04 — Satisfaction that the home is well maintained and safe to live in (Proportion of respondents who report that they are very satisfied or fairly satisfied that their home is well maintained and safe to live in)

Effective Handling of Complaints

• CH01 — Complaints relative to the size of the landlord (Number of:1. Stage one complaints received per 1,000 homes during the reporting year, and, 2. Stage two complaints received per 1,000 homes during the reporting year, as per the definition in the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code)
• CH02 — Complaints responded to within Complaint Handling Code timescales (Proportion of: 1. Stage one complaints responded to within the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code timescales, and, 2. Stage two complaints responded to within the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code timescales)
• TP11 — Satisfaction with the landlord’s approach to handling of complaints (Proportion of respondents who report that they are very satisfied or fairly satisfied with their landlord’s handling of complaints)
• TP12 — Tenant knowledge of how to make a complaint (Proportion of respondents who report that they strongly agree or agree with the statement “I know how to make a complaint to my landlord if I am not happy with the service I receive”)

Respectful and Helpful Engagement

• TP05 — Satisfaction that the landlord listens to tenant views and acts upon them (Proportion of respondents who report that they are very satisfied or fairly satisfied that their landlord listens to tenant views and acts upon them)
• TP06 — Satisfaction that the landlord keeps tenants informed about things that matter to them (Proportion of respondents who report that they are very satisfied or fairly satisfied that their landlord keeps tenants informed about things that matter to them as a tenant)
• TP07 — Agreement that the landlord treats tenants fairly and with respect (Proportion of respondents who report that they strongly agree or agree that their landlord treats them fairly and with respect)

Responsible neighbourhood management

• NM01 — Anti-social behaviour cases relative to the size of the landlord (Number of ASB cases opened per 1,000 homes by or on behalf of the registered provider during the reporting year)
• TP08 — Satisfaction that the landlord keeps communal areas clean, safe and well maintained (Proportion of respondents who report that they are very satisfied or fairly satisfied that their landlord keeps communal areas clean, safe and well maintained)
• TP09 — Satisfaction that the landlord makes a positive contribution to neighbourhoods (Proportion of respondents who report that they are very satisfied or fairly satisfied with the extent to which their landlord makes a positive contribution to the neighbourhood)
• TP10 — Satisfaction with the landlord’s approach to handling of anti-social behaviour (Proportion of respondents who report that they are very satisfied or fairly satisfied with their landlord’s handling of anti-social behaviour)

Fiona MacGregor, Chief Executive of RSH said: “Our proposed tenant satisfaction measures aim to give clear and comparable data about the quality of services tenants in social housing receive. We want them to be a valuable source of information for tenants, local communities, and landlords as well as forming part of the wider picture that informs our consumer regulation.

“By consulting now, we can take into account the views of tenants, landlords and other stakeholders to refine the final measures and also allow time for local authorities, housing associations and other social housing providers to prepare for their implementation.”

If you are interested in making your opinion could on this matter then you can fill in this survey.

Tenant Satisfaction Measures consultation document.