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Tenant Satisfaction Survey
Here are the results from the NCHA Tenant Satisfaction Survey in July 2003.
Executive Summary
The Nottingham Community Housing Association survey was centred on general needs tenancies and excluded those tenants receiving extra care and support, market renting or leaseholders. The tenants surveyed have demonstrated that they are generally happy with their homes and with the services provided by their landlord, however there are a number of areas which the Association may wish to address as part of their Best Value process.
The key findings of the survey were:
1. Nottingham Community Housing Association has a predominantly young general needs tenant profile.
- 30% of households are under 60 (21% single and 9% couples).
- 33% of households are families with children, a high percentage of which (22%) are single parent families which may pose child density problems in some areas.
- 4% of households consist of 3 or more adults. 41% contain a member aged 60 or over, either single (20%) or couples (8%)
2. Tenants
- 67% of principal tenants are under 60 years of age
- 22% of tenants have occupied the same home for 11 years or longer, however 36% are new to NCHA within the last 2 years, which represents quite a high turnover.
- 24% of principal tenants are in employment (13% full-time, 10% part-time and 1% self-employed). 26% are retired.
- 49% of tenants state they have a long-term illness and disability and 43% state that this limits activity. 9% use a wheelchair.
- 64% of tenants are wholly dependent on state benefits/state pensions and 72% have their rent paid, partially (22%) or fully (50%) by Housing Benefit.
- 68% of tenants have a weekly income of under £159.00.
3. Satisfaction with NCHA’s Service
- 70% of tenants feel the rent they pay represents good value for money, while 14% feel it is poor value and 17% feel it is neither good nor poor.
- 78% of tenants are satisfied with the overall service provided by NCHA, with 37% being very and 41% fairly satisfied. Older tenants are the most satisfied. 11% of tenants are dissatisfied (5% very and 6% fairly) and 11% are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied.
- 82% of tenants are satisfied with the accommodation that they occupy and 80% of tenenats are happy with the condition of their accommodation.
- 73% are satisfied with the area in which they live, with 16% dissatisfied.
- 72% are satisfied with the way their landlord deals with repairs and maintenance overall, and the individual aspects of the service are highly praised, with the attitude of workers (90%) and keeping dirt and mess to a minimum (86%), particularly so.
- 83% of tenants found the staff helpful and 67% found getting hold of the right person easy, the last time they made contact.
- With regard to communication issues, 80% of tenants felt that they are kept well informed and 64% feel NCHA takes account of their views. Only 52% are happy with the opportunities for involvement in management and decision-making, with 40% neither satisfied nor dissatisfied or else have no opinion.
- 80% favour the telephone as the preferred method of contact, with only 14% visiting the office within the last 12 months.
Whilst all services are felt to be good, a few concerns emerged:
- A fairly high proportion of tenants are concerned about local problems such as litter/rubbish (69%), vandalism (61%), and dogs (46%).
- Noise is a problem for 44% of tenants, a quarter of these consider this is a serious problem.
- 41% of tenants consider drug dealing in their area is a problem, 21% have a slight concerns and 20% serious concerns about this. Family groups express the most disquiet.
- 26% expressed dissatisfaction with the final outcome of their last contact with their landlord, with 64% satisfied. A brief overview of individual comments indicates some dissatisfaction in this area with those seeking a transfer under the new LETS policy.
In comparison with other social landlords, NCHA generally performed marginally below the average for the key indicators.
On overall satisfaction with services, NCHA have 1% less than average satisfied and 3% less on value for money. Satisfaction with accommodation, its condition and the area are between 1-4% below average. The aspects of contacting the landlord and the repairs are a little below average. Less than average feel they are kept well informed and less are satisfied with the opportunity to become involved in management and decision making. NCHA have higher than average problems with vandalism/hooliganism, litter/rubbish and dogs. Problems with neighbours, noise nuisance, drug dealing and other crimes are also above average.
4. Improvements to Service
The survey found that tenants believe the services they receive are largely very good. However, the results did indicate some areas of service provision that gave opportunities for improvement:
- There are high levels of dissatisfaction over local issues such as litter and rubbish and vandalism. It is suggested that NCHA look at the ways they are working with tenants groups to solve these problems and perhaps consider employing or incentivising tenants to take on general caretaking and neighbourhood watch activities.
- Linked to the above there is also concern from a number of tenants about local problems affecting the area around their homes. Whilst problems of drug dealing falls upon agencies such as local authorities and the Police to address, they often rely on help and co-operation from the tenants themselves to seek real improvements. NCHA may wish to look at its procedures and working arrangements with the various agencies and the tenants.
- Comparisons with other landlords show a below average performance in keeping tenants informed and taking account of tenant views in decisions. It may be appropriate for the Association to review and update their tenant participation approach.
- Further work and discussion with local tenant groups and a reappraisal of the allocations system may address the significant turnover of stock and anecdotal discontent with the new transfer policy may
- With a high percentage of tenants indicating they have a long term illness or disability, the Association may wish to investigate "Housing Plus" opportunities and assess whether the adaptations policy can meet current and future requirements.
- Although NCHA generally have dispersed general needs stock and few large mono tenure estates, the high percentage of single parent families and principal tenants wholly in receipt of state benefits should be monitored. Communities which have an excessive proportion of low-income, vulnerable or dependent households, or which have high child-adult ratios, are far more likely to experience problems and be perceived as less desirable places to live.
- The repairs service is seen as good by 72% of tenants, but poor by 16%. The workmanship in the home is generally appreciated but the information given about when work would start and the time taken to start are seen as poor by 19% and 15% respectively. Individual comments from tenants indicate upgrading and replacement of items is considered overdue (windows and boilers being particularly mentioned) and some experience problems with contractors. This area of the service may need further appraisal, particularly around the issue of the planned maintenance programme and inspection of completed work.
