Tenant Satisfaction Measures

Introduction

The Regulator of Social Housing asks that all local authority landlords carry out an annual assessment of tenant satisfaction. A set of Tenant Satisfaction Measures have been produced to make the performance of landlords more visible to tenants and help them to hold their landlords to account.

There are 22 Tenant Satisfaction Measures, of which:

10 are management measures gathered directly by the council, such as safety checks carried out
12 are measured by tenants voicing their views via an Annual Tenant Satisfaction Survey

Further details of these reporting requirements can be accessed here:

Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standards (including Tenant Satisfaction Measures) - on the GOV.UK website

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Management measure results

The performance results from the management measures in 2023/24 are as follows:

Improvement area: Complaints relative to the size of the landlord

Measure: Number of stage one complaints received per 1,000 homes.
Result: 60.2

Measure: Number of stage two complaints received per 1,000 homes.
Result: 8.3

Update: We have recently presented a report to our Joint Audit and Governance Committee about complaints and the progress we have made:

We have recently finalised our housing complaints policy and work is underway to support its implementation.

Improvement area: Complaints responded to within Complaint Handling Code timescales

Measure: The number of stage one complaints responded to within the Housing Ombudsman's Complaint Handling Code timescales.
Result: 49 (32%)

Measure: The number of stage two complaints responded to within the Housing Ombudsman's Complaint Handling Code timescales.
Result: 16 (76%)

Update: We have recently presented a report to our Joint Audit and Governance Committee about complaints and the progress we have made:

We have recently finalised our housing complaints policy and work is underway to support its implementation.

Improvement area: Anti-social behaviour (ASB) cases relative to the size of the landlord

Measure: Number of anti-social behaviour cases opened per 1,000 homes.
Result: 19.3

Measure: The number of anti-social behaviour cases that involve hate incidents per 1,000 homes.
Result: 1.9

Update: Work to address ASB and hate crime is being led through new dedicated ASB officers and service delivery for Adur Homes.

Improvement area: Homes that do not meet the Decent Homes Standard

Measure: Proportion of homes that do not meet the Decent Homes Standard.
Result: ---

Update: Due to the current data held we are not able to provide this figure and this is one of the reasons Adur District Council undertook a self referral to the Regulator in February 2023. This data is starting to be collected in the first quarter of 2024/25.

Improvement area: Repairs completed within target timescale

Measure: The proportion of non-emergency repairs completed with the landlords target timescales.
Result: 44.1

Measure: The proportion of emergency repairs completed with the landlords target timescales.
Result: 62.5

Update: These are key areas of work being prioritised for improvement through the improvement plan.

Improvement area: Gas safety checks

Measure: Proportion of homes for which all required gas safety checks have been carried out.
Result: 99.5%

Update: This result reflects strong progress made in this area through the improvement plan. The 0.5% represents those properties where access is being sought through court orders and other actions.

Improvement area: Fire safety checks

Measure: Proportion of homes for which all required fire risk assessments have been carried out.
Result: 100%

Update: This result reflects strong progress made in this area through the improvement plan.

Improvement area: Asbestos safety checks

Measure: Proportion of homes for which all required asbestos management surveys or re-inspections have been carried out.
Result: 41.4%

Update: This is a key area of work being prioritised for improvement through the improvement plan.

Improvement area: Water safety checks

Measure: Proportion of homes for which all required legionella risk assessments have been carried out.
Result: 100%

Update: This result reflects strong progress made in this area through the improvement plan.

Improvement area: Lift safety checks

Measure: Proportion of homes for which all required communal passenger lift safety checks have been carried out.
Result: 100%

Update: This result reflects strong progress made in this area through the improvement plan.

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Tenant Satisfaction Survey 2023-2024

During October and November 2023, Adur Homes tenants were given the opportunity to complete the Tenant Satisfaction Survey either online, via the post or over the telephone. By the survey close, on 6th November 2023, 720 responses had been received, giving a response rate of 29%. This is split between:

250 responses made online (35%)
358 via the post (50%) and
109 completed by telephone (15%)

The short survey asked tenants for their satisfaction about subjects such as property repairs, maintaining building safety, effective complaints handling, respectful and helpful tenant engagement, and responsible neighbourhood management. The survey lets tenants see how well Adur District Council is doing, as well as ensure the council understands what needs to be improved.

We would like to say a big thank you to all those who took part in our 2023/24 satisfaction survey. Hearing first-hand experiences and honest feedback about our homes and services really does help us to look at ways we can improve.

In the survey, just over half of tenants (54%) reported being satisfied with the overall service provided by Adur Homes. A number of areas had lower satisfaction ratings including Adur Homes' approach to complaints handling at 18%, and Adur Homes' approach to anti-social behaviour at 34%.

Summary of results

Overall service: Just over half of tenants (54%) are satisfied with the overall service provided by Adur Homes.
A well maintained home: Just under half of tenants (47%) are satisfied that they are provided with a home that is well maintained.
A safe home: Just over half of tenants (54%) are satisfied that Adur Homes provides them with a home that is safe.
Communal areas: 44% of tenants with communal areas are satisfied that they are kept clean and well maintained and 44% are dissatisfied.
Repairs: Around three-quarters of tenants (73%) said they had a repair carried out to their homes in the last 12 months. Of these tenants, 59% are satisfied with the overall repairs service from Adur Homes during this time. Tenants are similarly satisfied (59%) with the time taken to complete their most recent repair after they reported it.
Neighbourhoods: 38% of tenants are satisfied that Adur Homes makes a positive contribution to their neighbourhood and 32% are dissatisfied.
Anti-social behaviour: 34% of tenants are satisfied with Adur Homes' approach to handling anti-social behaviour and 36% are dissatisfied.
Listening to tenants: 40% of tenants are satisfied that Adur Homes listens to their views and acts upon them and 41% are dissatisfied. 44% of tenants are satisfied that they are kept informed about things that matter to them and 33% are dissatisfied.
Fairness and respect: Just over half of tenants (56%) agree that Adur Homes treats them fairly and with respect.
Complaints: 31% of tenants said they had made a complaint to Adur Homes in the last 12 months. Of these tenants, 18% are satisfied and 66% are dissatisfied with Adur Homes' approach to complaints handling.

The survey included several open-ended questions giving tenants the opportunity to expand on their reasons for dissatisfaction and give improvement suggestions.

Tenants most frequently mentioned improvements needed to the day-to-day repairs service, particularly outstanding/forgotten repairs and the timescales for completing them. Home improvements, particularly around replacement windows, are also mentioned frequently, as is damp and mould and cleaning of communal areas.

Tenants not satisfied with communications and customer service were also asked what could be improved. Tenants mentioned they would like more consistent care, empathy and support from staff.

A review of these comments is underway to help Adur Homes understand what is driving dissatisfaction and identify any ways of addressing them.

For those that would like to see the data in a more visual way these results are also available in two further formats:

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Adur Homes Improvement Plan

Everyone living in an Adur Homes property deserves to have a good, safe and secure home, and our teams are committed to making this a reality.

While many of our tenants and leaseholders live in properties that are of a good standard, some do not. That is not acceptable - and we know that we need to do more.

In 2023 we carried out a review which made it clear to us that in some cases we are failing to provide the decent homes that all our tenants and leaseholders have a right to. As a result of this, we referred ourselves to the national watchdog, the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH):