Meeting documents

The Housing Division carries out a Tenant Satisfaction Survey once every 3 years to monitor customer satisfaction with its services.

An Executive Summary of the Tenant Satisfaction Survey 2003/4 is attached for Members information.

A brief summary of the initial findings is included in the Spring Edition of ‘Housing Matters’ that will be distributed to tenants and leaseholders in May. The Annual Report to tenants produced in the autumn will include more information obtained from the survey.

A more detailed report is currently being prepared and will be put onto the Councils Website once finalised. Individual copies will be available on request.

HOUSING SERVICES

Tenant Satisfaction Survey 2003/4

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Introduction

A Tenant Satisfaction questionnaire was sent to all Council tenants in October 2003. 3,613 questionnaires were returned in total, giving a response rate of 59%. This excellent response rate was a result of sending out two reminder letters, the last of which included a further copy of the questionnaire. 2390 questionnaires were initially returned, 372 were returned as a result of the first reminder letter and 851 were returned in response to the second reminder letter which included a further copy of the questionnaire. The aim of the questionnaire was to find out how satisfied tenants were with the services provided by the Housing Division.

Profile of tenants returning the questionnaire

48.4% of the tenants responding to the questionnaire had been tenants of Wycombe District Council (WDC) for more than 21 years and 27.4% of tenants had lived in the same house for 21 years or more. 57.5% of tenants had at least 1 adult in their household aged 60 or over. This high proportion of elderly tenants is not surprising considering that approximately one third of the Council’s housing stock is designated for elderly persons. This would also account for 48.5% of the respondents having a longstanding illness, disability or infirmity. 88.36% of respondents were White British and 11.64% were of a Black and Minority Ethnic origin, which mirrors almost exactly the overall ethnicity breakdown in the district as a whole, according to the 2001 census.  

Tenant satisfaction with the Housing Service

The results showed that 93.25% of respondents who expressed an opinion were satisfied with the overall Housing Service. This is particularly encouraging to note. 78.4% of respondents felt that the rent for their property represented good value for money, taking into account the housing services that WDC provides.

Tenant satisfaction with their accommodation

93.2% of tenants expressing an opinion said they were satisfied with their accommodation. 78% of respondents felt that the number of rooms in their property was about right and 79.3% felt that the general condition of their property was good.

Tenant satisfaction with the area where they live

82.6% of tenants were satisfied with the area where they lived. When tenants were asked which things they considered were a problem in their area, 58% felt that litter and rubbish in the street was a problem and 56.4% identified vandalism as a concern, although only a minority felt that these were serious problems.

Contact with Wycombe District Council

63.1% of respondents had been in contact with the Housing Division in the last 12 months. The most common way of making contact was by phone (67.1%). 25.9% of respondents had visited the offices in person, 3.4% had written and 0.3% had sent an email. 66.8% of this contact was in respect of repairs and 17.5% was in connection with rents. 72% of respondents had found it easy to get hold of the right person on these occasions and 84.9% stated that staff were helpful. In 79.8% of cases, staff were able to deal with the problem.

Tenant satisfaction with repairs and maintenance

Of tenants expressing an opinion, 90.3% were satisfied with the overall way that Wycombe District Council deals with repairs and maintenance. 90.7% were satisfied with the way that WDC staff dealt with repairs and maintenance and 81% were satisfied with the way that contractors dealt with repairs and maintenance. 63.7% of tenants had had a repair completed in the last 12 months. When tenants were asked to rate the service in respect of their last completed repair, it was revealed that 90.1% of respondents expressing an opinion were satisfied with the attitude of the workers. 86.2% said that contractors were good at keeping dirt and mess to a minimum. 83.4% of respondents were satisfied with the speed that work was completed and 82.9% were satisfied with the overall quality of work. 81.9% were satisfied with being told when workers would call and 79.2% were satisfied with the length of time taken before work started. These figures have significantly improved since the Tenant Satisfaction Survey 2001/2002.

Communicating with your landlord

85.8% of tenants felt that WDC was good at keeping tenants informed about things that might affect them. 84.3% of those expressing an opinion felt that WDC took tenants views into account when making decisions. 93.1% of respondents who expressed an opinion were satisfied with the opportunities for participation in management and decision-making offered by the Housing Division.

Tenant Participation Compact

44.6% of tenants had heard of the Tenant Participation Compact and 92.8% of those replying and expressing an opinion were satisfied with WDC’s Tenant Participation Compact.

CROSS ANALYSIS OF THE RESULTS.

Family composition

Households with at least one adult over the age of 60 were more satisfied with the overall Housing Service (97%) than any other household type. However at least 84% of all household categories were satisfied with the overall housing service. The majority of households were satisfied with the way that WDC kept them informed about things that might affect them as tenants, although households with 1 adult aged 60 or over (92%), were more satisfied than families with at least 1 child under 16 years of age (77%). More households with one adult aged 60 or over thought that WDC took account of their views when making decisions, than households with children under the age of 16, but in all cases, at least 74% of households felt that the Council took some account of their views. Households with one adult aged 60 or over were most satisfied with opportunities for participation in management and decision-making (97%). The least satisfied categories were those with children under 16 years of age, but even then, 84% of respondents were satisfied.

Ethnicity

93.7% of White British tenants and 90.1% of Black and Minority Ethnic tenants who expressed an opinion were satisfied with the overall Housing Service. At least 77% of tenants in all ethnic groups felt that WDC is good at keeping them informed about things that affect them as tenants. 84.6% of White British tenants and 82% of Black and Minority Ethnic tenants thought that WDC took at least some account of their views when making decisions. 93.9% of White British respondents and 85.9% of Black and Minority Ethnic tenants were satisfied with opportunities for participation in management and decision-making.

Disability

Tenants who had a disability that limited their activities in some way were very satisfied on all accounts. 93.3% were satisfied with the overall Housing Service, 86.2% felt that WDC were good at keeping them informed, 83.6% felt that WDC took some account of their views when making decisions and 91.8% were satisfied with the opportunities for participation in management and decision-making.

CONCLUSION

The results obtained from the questionnaire has demonstrated yet again that the vast majority of tenants, regardless of their family composition, ethnic background or disabled status, are in general very satisfied with the services they receive from the Housing Division. Some detailed variations between different categories of tenants were apparent and WDC will take note of these. However, because of the small sample sizes often involved, a certain amount of caution must also be exercised when looking at these. The questionnaire has demonstrated that there are a number of tenants who are not aware of the Tenant Participation Compact and the Housing Division will be looking at ways to further promote the compact in the coming months.

The results provide valuable information that will be taken into consideration when reviewing all aspects of the service. We will continue to carry out surveys in the future in order to keep up to date with tenants’ views of our service and monitor trends.