Tenant satisfaction measures- what you need to know
1 January 2023
This article was first published on the Batchelor’s Solicitors website prior to its merger with Birketts.
The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) will begin collecting information on tenants’ satisfaction from 1 April 2023, after confirming the new tenant satisfaction measures (TSMs) that social landlords will be judged against.
Under these new consumer standards, social landlords and associations will be marked against 22 performance criteria to ensure they are providing a decent service and safe accommodation to tenants.
These new measures are part of an overhaul of social housing regulation following the events of the Grenfell Tower disaster.
The purpose of TSMs is to create a tenant-focused system, where the needs of residents are better understood and dealt with.
What elements will be assessed?
The new definitive list of what landlords will be assessed on can be broken down as follows:
- Overall satisfaction
- Keeping properties in good repair
- Maintaining building safety
- Safety checks
- Respectful and helpful engagement
- Effective handling of complaints
- Responsible neighbourhood management
These are then further broken down into the 22 criteria, the full list for which can be found here.
Under the initial TSM proposals, all tenants were to be surveyed on their landlord’s complaint handling. However, this element has since been dropped as it could potentially include views from tenants who had never made a complaint and, therefore, provide unreliable data.
Instead, following consultation with tenants and landlords, it will measure tenants’ knowledge of how to make a complaint.
The definition of anti-social behaviour (ASB) has also been amended to exclude domestic abuse and to include hate incidents.
What are landlords required to do?
From April next year, landlords will be required to start collecting data for TSMs from all of their social tenants and then in the summer of 2024 they must send the first year of TSM data to the RSH. The results of these surveys will then be published in the autumn of 2024.
“Tenants have a right for their voices to be heard,” said Housing Secretary, Simon Clarke. “We will continue to work with the regulator to hold providers to account over poor-quality homes.”
If you have any questions about TSMs and how they may affect you or your organisation, please get in touch.
Sectors
The content of this article is for general information only. It is not, and should not be taken as, legal advice. If you require any further information in relation to this article please contact the author in the first instance. Law covered as at January 2023.