TSM & STAR Surveys
At Acuity's very core is the delivery of resident satisfaction surveys, that provide trustworthy results, meet appropriate requirements and promote the continuous improvement of services.
In England, the Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs) from the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) went live in April 2023. Our corresponding TSM-compliant Surveys ensure that registered providers gather the necessary data in a cost-effective, reliable and timely manner.
We also conduct surveys in line with the STAR (Survey of Tenants and Residents) framework and other requirements across the UK housing sector, such as those of the Welsh Government.
All projects are tailored to meet each client’s needs – surveys can be one-off, quarterly, monthly or of any requested frequency. A range of methodologies are available to optimise data collection, from telephone and face-to-face interviews to self-completion online and postal questionnaires.
Survey outcomes are presented through innovative reports and dashboards, providing clients with astute analysis and the ability to directly access their results. We also offer interactive workshops and an array of follow-on research solutions, to delve deeper into the findings and determine actions for improvement.
Our Experience
Delivering surveys for a wide-variety of clients
We deliver surveys for all housing providers, whether big or small, standard or specialist. Our client base includes registered providers, ALMOs and Local Authorities throughout the UK and Ireland, with a wide range of tenure types and anything from a handful of residents to over 60,000.
As resident satisfaction has evolved, Acuity has been an ever-present contributor, from being involved in the development of STATUS and the STAR framework to being consulted by the Regulator of Social Housing on the Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs).
We utilise our base of 150 benchmarking members and bank of historic data from over 750,000 residents to put results into context and provide reliable comparison intelligence. Learn more about our benchmarking offer.
Top-tier expertise and long-lasting relationships
We are a key supplier of TSM and STAR surveys nationwide, having worked with housing providers to measure and understand resident satisfaction for over 25 years. During this time, we have developed long-term relationships with many clients and gained extensive experience in conducting surveys.
Each year, we run over 80 tracking and between 60 and 100 one-off resident satisfaction surveys. We also typically have around 180 transactional surveys running at any one time – find out more about these event-based surveys.
Our Approach
Our philosophy is to work in partnership with our clients to design bespoke surveys, which through careful methodology and question selection, meet their specific needs and generate valuable business-enhancing intelligence.
Engaging question sets and visually appealing questionnaires are constructed to capture the “right” information and reflect the aims of each organisation. Results enable landlords to understand resident expectations and priorities, identify areas for improvement and enhance engagement.
We ensure surveys comply with the latest TSM and STAR requirements, to both satisfy the regulator and offer reliable comparability with other providers. At the same time, we keep abreast of research trends inside and outside the sector and, where appropriate, incorporate the latest thinking into our practice.
A range of survey methods are offered, including blended research to meet residents’ survey preferences and optimise survey reach: Telephone, postal, face-to-face and digital surveys (QR codes, text and email).
Customer recovery is placed at the heart of our service, to assist clients in reconnecting with residents, promptly solving any failures in service and improving strategic engagement.
Telephone Surveys
With a virtual call centre boasting a team of over 80 interviewers, we deliver more than 320 telephone projects every year. Trained to capture the ‘voice of the tenant’, our specialised social housing interviewers make over 1 million calls annually, conducting over 160,000 interviews in a range of languages.
Postal Surveys
A very popular method for smaller (and some very large) clients, postal surveys can be blended with any other methodology and designed with an organisation’s branding. Survey packs are directly delivered to residents, and can include cover letters, Freepost return envelopments and links to complete the survey online.
Digital Surveys
Over 100 online client projects are delivered each year by Acuity, with hundreds of thousands of survey links being sent directly to residents by email and text. Digital surveys can be fully client-branded, programmed to capture videos and images, and run in tandem with any of the other methodologies.
