Survey shows increased satisfaction with WHBC housing services

Tenant safety emerged as the strongest area of satisfaction in the survey, with 80% of tenants confirming they are satisfied that the council provides a safe home. In addition, 76% of tenants were satisfied that the council treats them fairly and with respect. Tenants were also asked on a scale of 1 to 10 how likely they were to recommend WHBC to friends and family and 68% gave a score of 7 or higher.

As a social housing provider, the council is required to run an annual Tenant Satisfaction Measures Survey and report the results to the Regulator of Social Housing.

The survey results help the council understand what is working well and where further improvements are needed.

Some of the improvements made following feedback from tenants include:

• A review by the Residents Panel of how complaints are responded to.
• Improving the information about council housing repairs on the website.
• The launch of the Nicer Neighbourhoods projects working with residents to enhance their local area.

Cllr Gemma Moore, Executive Member for Housing, said:

“Our tenants’ views are very important to us and while satisfaction has increased for the second year in a row, we know there is always room for improvement.

“With the support of our Residents Panel, we will continue to collaborate with tenants and use their feedback to shape our housing services, keeping them front and centre in everything we do.”

Anthony Goodwin, Chair of the Residents Panel, said:

“This is good news, and these results show that things are moving in the right direction. Following on from the results the Residents Panel conducted a scrutiny of the complaints process. The recommendations have been fully adopted by the council, and we hope to see a further increase in tenant satisfaction going forward. The panel is also taking a more in-depth look at where improvements can be made and how we can work collaboratively with the council to help continue this progress.”

The survey was run by an external market research company.

More information about the Tenant Satisfaction Measures can be found on the council’s website welhat.gov.uk/homepage/113/tenant-satisfaction-measures.