Press release

RSH announces plans for a National Tenant Survey

The National Tenant Survey will give RSH a robust and independent benchmark for landlords’ TSM results

From:
Regulator of Social Housing
Published
28 September 2023

RSH has announced plans to carry out a National Tenant Survey with social housing tenants, to understand how satisfied they are with their landlord’s service.

All social landlords, including housing associations and councils, already need to collect Tenant Satisfaction Measures from their tenants. RSH’s one-off tenant survey will be in addition to landlords’ TSMs, using the same questions. It will give RSH a robust and independent benchmark for landlords’ TSM results and provide information about levels of satisfaction among different groups of tenants.

RSH is undertaking a procurement to find a supplier to carry out the survey.

The TSMs are an important part of RSH’s move to proactive consumer regulation. They enable tenants to scrutinise their landlord’s performance, give landlords insight about where they can improve, and provide information to help RSH understand landlords’ service delivery.

RSH is also currently consulting on a new set of consumer standards to protect tenants, and developing its approach for new landlord inspections that will start from April 2024.

Will Perry, Director of Strategy at RSH, said:

The TSMs are an important way for tenants to hold their landlord to account. Our National Tenant Survey will help us to scrutinise the responses that landlords submit to us, and give us deeper understanding of satisfaction across the sector.

We’re gearing up for the biggest change in social housing regulation for a decade. It’s vital that landlords focus on their core objectives of providing good quality homes and services for their tenants, and building new homes for people who need them.

Notes to editors

  1. RSH introduced the TSMs in April 2023, and all social landlords need to collect and report the results to their tenants. Landlords with 1,000 or more homes also need to submit the results to RSH. RSH is also undertaking a pilot with small providers, to consider the possibility of collecting their data too.

  2. There are 22 TSMs in total, 10 of which are completed by landlords based on management information. The remaining 12 are tenant perception questions which landlords need to ask to a representative sample of their tenants. They cover topics including repairs, complaints handling and maintenance of communal areas. The National Tenant Survey will cover the 12 tenant perception questions.

  3. The complete suite of TSM documents, including the technical requirements and survey requirements that landlords need to follow, is available on the regulator’s TSM webpage.

  4. RSH is undertaking the National Tenant Survey procurement through a Dynamic Purchasing System. This means RSH is contacting potential suppliers who have already met selection criteria administered by the Crown Commercial Service.

  5. RSH promotes a viable, efficient and well-governed social housing sector able to deliver and maintain homes of appropriate quality that meet a range of needs. It does this by undertaking robust economic regulation focusing on governance, financial viability and value for money that maintains lender confidence and protects the taxpayer. It also sets consumer standards and may take action if these standards are breached and there is a significant risk of serious detriment to tenants or potential tenants.

  6. For press office contact details, see our Media enquiries page. For general queries, please email enquiries@rsh.gov.uk or call 0300 124 5225.

Published 28 September 2023