We’re sure many of you will now have seen the Regulator’s first TSM results land and hopefully have had a chance to digest the details.

Here at Acuity, we’re positive about the Tenant Satisfaction Measures’ introduction as a way to continually improve standards and experiences for residents of social housing – something we continually work with clients and partners to achieve.

The headline data

Landlords completed over 480,000 surveys, with almost 455,000 of those completed with low-cost rental accommodation tenants.

As expected, overall satisfaction with services from landlords was fairly high (71.3%), reflecting what our quarterly analyses have been showing, with satisfaction with the repairs service and how well homes are maintained hovering at a similar level (72.3% and 70.8% respectively).

While it is positive to see a majority satisfied with their homes and landlords, our data shows a continual decline in satisfaction, providing plenty of opportunity for improvement.

Reassuringly, most landlords reported full compliance with each building safety management measure, with a landlord median at or near 100% for each.

Complaints no surprise

Unfortunately, as we knew would be the case, complaints are a different story. Satisfaction with landlords’ approach to complaints handling came in at 34.5% (with low-cost home ownership even lower at 19.2%).

This comes as no surprise. Our quarterly client briefings have been highlighting comparable results for some time. It’s an area that many landlords are already working hard to improve, and we have been supporting a number of clients in improving these stubbornly low scores and complaints handling in general with our ‘deep dive’ services.

The TSMs have been helpful in shining a spotlight on this area and the improvement work needed, but for Acuity, it’s an area we’ve been concentrating on for a while. Improved scores will be a bonus, but the real benefit of the work we’re doing will be more satisfied residents – people who feel listened to, supported and happier in their homes and communities.

More than numbers

It’s important while appreciating the value of the TSMs as a way to ensure landlords are complying as they should be, not to forget about the individuals and families we’re talking about – the people behind the numbers.

Benchmarking is a really useful tool to see how you’re doing, and something we are providing for clients across the country in all areas of housing, but we are also strong advocates for understanding the nuances and details of that data – we need to be careful of simply comparing numbers in a table without that understanding.

That’s where specialist contractors are a particularly valuable asset. According to the Regulator’s TSM report, 86% of landlords have used an external contractor for the collection or analysis of the data, suggested by the Regulator as being helpful in “bringing expertise to ensure TSMs reflect statistical and market research good practice.”

As a data and research business specialising in social housing, this is where Acuity’s expertise comes in. We support our clients by providing real insight to aid understanding of what lies behind the numbers, and to ensure service improvements are focussed where they’re needed.

Feel free to get in touch if you have any queries or to discuss your requirements: denise.raine@arap.co.uk