Housing trust rated highly for tenant satisfaction in new survey

Derventio Housing Trust has reported “excellent results” in a new national social landlords’ survey.

The housing trust, which provides accommodation to hundreds of people in Derbyshire who would otherwise be homeless, has scored highly in the first nationally required set of ‘Tenant Satisfaction Measures’.

Tenant Satisfaction Measures are a new government requirement under which social landlords must seek feedback from their tenants via a set of prescribed questions.

Tenants in social housing are surveyed annually with questions on topics ranging from their overall satisfaction with the accommodation provided; whether they feel their home is well maintained; whether it is safe; whether they feel the provider is making a positive contribution to the neighbourhood and whether they tackle any anti-social behaviour well.

The first set of results have now been released. Derventio Housing Trust, which provides accommodation to more than 1,000 people a year across five counties, reported 87% of its tenants being satisfied overall with its accommodation, well above an average score of 70% for housing associations – as reported by Inside Housing, which surveyed more than 200 housing associations and councils across the country.

When it came to Derventio Housing Trust tenants’ view on how well the provider conducted repairs, there was an 84% satisfaction rate, above the 72.7% average for housing associations, while 73% said they were happy with how well Derventio handled complaints – way above the 36% average.

Managing director Sarah Hernandez said: “We are delighted with the results of our TSMs.

“We have actually been asking our tenants for their feedback via properly conducted surveys for many years now, so the requirement to do so from the Government was not an issue for us.

“We believe it’s very important that residents living in our homes are happy with the way they are run.

“We are very proud of our tenant satisfaction ratings and will keep on striving to provide the very best accommodation we can to residents who have been through some very difficult situations.

“We’re really pleased that our results have been well above the national average and among the country’s best.

“These TSMs are an important piece of legislation holding social landlords like ourselves to account among the people best qualified to judge: residents.

“And all the feedback we are given – every single comment is looked into at the highest level, both notes on where things may have gone wrong, and suggestions for how we can improve.”