The long-awaited tenant satisfaction measures (TSMs) have been finalised, and social housing landlords in England have a great deal to prepare between now and April 2023.
Let’s take a closer look at what’s being proposed, how industry leaders are responding to the news, and what you can do to take action now.
What has been proposed?
On 21st September 2022, The Regulator of Social Housing presented the final set of 22 tenant satisfaction measures. Ten of these will be measured directly by landlords, while 12 will be measured by annual tenant perception surveys.
This new standard will require landlords to collect the necessary information from 1st April 2023. Those with 1,000 or more properties will then need to submit their first year of tenant satisfaction measure data by the summer of 2024, with the aim of publishing their performance in autumn 2024.
The final tenant satisfaction measures
The following 12 tenant satisfaction measures must be collected from tenant perception surveys:
- TP01: Overall satisfaction
- TP02: Satisfaction with repairs
- TP03: Satisfaction with time taken to complete most recent repair
- TP04: Satisfaction that the home is well maintained
- TP05: Satisfaction that the home is safe
- TP06: Satisfaction that the landlord listens to tenant views and acts upon them
- TP07: Satisfaction that the landlord keeps tenants informed about things that matter to them
- TP08: Agreement that the landlord treats tenants fairly and with respect
- TP09: Satisfaction with the landlord’s approach to handling complaints
- TP10: Satisfaction that the landlord keeps communal areas clean and well maintained
- TP11: Satisfaction that the landlord makes a positive contribution to neighbourhoods
- TP12: Satisfaction with the landlord’s approach to handling anti-social behaviour
The following 10 tenant satisfaction measures must be gathered through management information:
- CH01: Complaints relative to the size of the landlord
- CH02: Complaints responded to within Complaint Handling Code timescales
- NM01: Anti-social behaviour cases relative to the size of the landlord
- RP01: Homes that do not meet the Decent Homes Standard
- RP02: Repairs completed within target timescale
- BS01: Gas safety checks
- BS02: Fire safety checks
- BS03: Asbestos safety checks
- BS04: Water safety checks
- BS05: Lift safety checks
How are industry leaders responding to the changes?
"The decision statement highlights some minor changes and the only question change which will probably need more follow-up work from us will be the new separated question about ‘is your home safe?’ This question was previously a combined question with maintenance, and asking this separately I feel will trigger a different response from the tenant. It will be important for us to follow these responses up to ensure we're dealing with genuine safety concerns.”
– Sarah Chilton, Head Of Chief Executive’s Department at Jigsaw Homes Group
We are delighted that, after an extensive and inclusive consultation, the final tenant satisfaction measures have been published by the Regulator of Social Housing. Housemark is pleased and proud to have supported sector leaders and the Regulator of Social Housing during their development. We will continue to work very closely with our customers and stakeholders to ensure that Housemark’s benchmarking and bespoke consultancy services offer the right support in helping the housing sector be ‘ready for regulation.”
– Laurice Ponting, Chief Executive at Housemark
Now’s the time to start establishing your baseline
These tenant satisfaction measures will come into effect on 1st April 2023, leaving limited time for landlords to prepare for the new requirements. If you don’t use this time to prepare for what’s to come, you could face having to publish your tenant satisfaction results at the same time as learning them yourself, as well as potentially damaging legal action by the RSH for non-compliance.
As such, now’s the time to start planning how to benchmark and address baseline satisfaction levels – and it doesn’t have to be as daunting as it may seem.
We have a ready-made, tried-and-tested solution that enables landlords to effortlessly create and send tenant perception surveys that will satisfy your regulatory obligations. Using our technology, landlords can gather more responses, more often, and with little to no intervention.
Get in touch with our public sector experts today to ensure your compliance with the TSMs.