Council Leads the Way with Tenant Satisfaction
News Item Details
- Date
- 1.59pm, 25 January 2007
The results of an independently run tenant satisfaction survey carried out at the end of 2006 have now been published by Welwyn Hatfield Council.
The survey is carried out every three years and includes a range of questions which are standard across the social housing sector (known as the STATUS survey questions), plus a small number of specific local questions. The results give considerable feedback on various aspects of the service provided to tenants and are used to identify areas for improvement.
887 surveys were returned (52% of the total sent out) and the results are really positive. Overall satisfaction for the landlord service has again increased to 87%. This places the council among the best performing landlords nationally.
On opportunities for tenant involvement and participation, the level of satisfaction has risen to 69%, with 85% of tenants satisfied with the way they are informed about things that affect them and an even higher percentage with the ways their views are taken into account in decision making. In making contact, most people said they have no difficulty in speaking to the right person and found housing staff to be helpful.
When asked, 97% of respondents were happy with current office opening times and with the quarterly housing newsletters distributed by the council (Housing Matters and the Tenants’ Panel publication, Your Voice).
Commenting on the results, Councillor Roger Trigg, Executive Member for Housing, said: “We are always keen to involve our tenants and I am pleased that the results show that the vast majority of our tenants feel involved and well informed. The results, from an independent company, are particularly satisfying because national trends show a decrease in customer satisfaction – so we are not only improving, but improving when many other councils are struggling.”
Go to Council and Committee Meetings for the full report that went to Cabinet Housing Panel on Thursday 11 January, which includes some of the survey results.