Tenant satisfaction hits five-year low
Maintenance support, communication strategies and complaint responses are all areas that have contributed to levels being at an all-time low.
Housemark, a leading data insight company for the UK housing sector, have published their first look at the 2023-24 Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSM) survey and the results are disappointing to say the least. Experts found satisfaction levels in England have dropped below 70% meaning it is now at a five-year low.
To conduct their research, experts surveyed 22 English landlords on their TSM performance from April 2023 to March 2024 and discovered the decline in service satisfaction dropped from 85.1% in 2018-19 to 69.4% in 2023-24.
Looking at this research more closely, researchers highlighted significant areas that are contributing to such a stark decline in satisfaction levels. Experts found almost a third of tenants are not happy with their repairs service. Repairs are the main point of contact between landlords and tenants. With social landlords recording an average of 3.3 repairs per property – around 14 million repairs across England – the report says this service is crucial for maintaining tenant satisfaction.
In addition, tenants were also found to be dissatisfied with landlords communication. According to the survey, only 58.9% of tenants feel their landlord listens to their views, leaving almost half feeling overlooked.
Moreover, 33.8% of tenants were found to be dissatisfied with their landlord’s to handling complaints, a drop of 15.2% compared to 2022-23. With the data showing a 14.9% rise in average stage one complaint volumes between 2022-23 and 2023-24, the research highlights a possible shift as landlords record complaints formally, in line with the Housing Ombudsman’s Code, instead of using informal mechanisms.
‘While some of the headlines in these results are concerning, it’s important to recognise that meaningful improvements in operational services, particularly repairs, typically take around 18 months to reflect in tenant perceptions. This means that efforts initiated now will start showing results in the 2025-26 TSM data. It’s a reminder that sustained effort is crucial for long-term change,’ Jonathan Cox, director of data and business intelligence at Housemark, said.
He continued: ‘While the current TSM results for overall satisfaction are at a low point, our monthly pulse data since April indicates a modest recovery among landlords who have proactively addressed service issues. This is an encouraging sign that positive changes are starting to take effect, and we expect this trend to continue as more landlords implement improvements.’
Although Housemark’s data highlights tenants upset with housing services, the research also shows investment to improve services will start to be reflected in scores after around 18 months.
Image: Erik Mclean
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