How we measure tenant satisfaction

We carried out our 2023/24 tenant satisfaction survey using established criteria for collecting meaningful information. Those criteria are decribed below.

This is followed by a full questionnaire transcript.

Summary of achieved sample size (number of responses)

The results were based on responses from 988 Hounslow Council housing tenants. According to established statistical methods, 95% of the time the satisfaction of all our tenants should be within 3% of the values our sample survey recorded.

Timing of survey 

A single batch of interviews carried out between 4 December 2023 and 24 January 2024.

Collection method(s) 

The answers to the survey were collected by telephone. We were advised and believe that this method:

• leads to a less biased selection of respondents
• gives respondents greater opportunity to give qualitative feedback on our service

Telephone calls were made at different times of the day, including morning, afternoon and evening. Weekend calls were also available. Interviewers made up to five attempts to survey each sampled household.

Sample method 

The survey was based on a stratified random sample of 988 tenants from a total population of 12,573 council households that were occupied at the time.

This estimates the total satisfaction of all tenants, based on the assumption that:

• positive and negative opinions are equally distributed across all respondents
• the response of any individual to the survey does not influence the response of others

Representativeness of the sample

Full criteria description: Summary of the assessment of representativeness of the sample against the relevant tenant population (including reference to the characteristics against which representativeness has been assessed).

We stratified our sample to ensure that those questioned fairly represented the make-up of our tenant households.

This meant that although we selected tenants at random, we used quotas to ensure that they were in proportion and representative of tenants as a whole according to:

• age group
• property group
• area of the borough
• ethnicity

The table below summarises the checks on the sample that we made.

Weighting

Full criteria description: Weighting applied to generate the reported perception measures.

Weighting was not applied to our survey results because the quotas used to collect the sample ensured that they were representative.

External contractor

Full criteria description: The role of any named external contractor(s) in collecting, generating, or validating the reported perception measures. 

We contracted Kwest Research Limited to carry out the survey. They are a specialist housing research organisation of many years standing. This ensured that:

• the results were impartial
• the method used was consistent with that of many other social landlords

They were responsible for all aspects of collecting, generating and validating the survey and its results.

Exclusions due to exceptional circumstances

Full criteria description: The number of tenant households within the relevant population that have not been included in the sample frame due to the exceptional circumstances with a broad rationale for their removal.

None.

Reasons for any failure to meet the required sample size requirements

N/A

Incentives

Full criteria description: Type and amount of any incentives offered to tenants to encourage survey completion. 

No incentives were offered to tenants to complete the survey.

Any other issues

Full criteria description: Any other methodological issues likely to have a material impact on the tenant perception measures reported.

We are not aware of any other issues that would have had a material impact on the survey’s measurement. 

Questionnaire transcript

Introduction

Good [time of day]. I'm calling to speak to [full name] or perhaps you could help me.

My name is [interviewer].

I'm just calling on behalf of the London Borough of Hounslow to get your feedback on what it's like to live in your home and neighbourhood, If that's OK? It should only take a few minutes. 

[After agreement to interview] Just to let you know, this call will be recorded for monitoring and training purposes. Your answers will also be linked to your personal data and used to improve services, however, none of the questions are compulsory and you can end the call at any point. The feedback we collect will be used to calculate annual Tenant Satisfaction Measures to be published by Hounslow. Is that okay?

The tenant satisfaction measures (TSMs) have been brought in by the Regulator of Social Housing in response to the Grenfell Tower tragedy and are designed to monitor the performance of councils and housing associations. Data is being collected each financial year, starting from April 2023, and will be published at the end of that year.

Questions 

Q1

Can I confirm I am speaking to? [Open verbatim] 

Q2

Taking everything into account, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the service provided by Hounslow? The possible response options to this and the following queries are - very satisfied, fairly satisfied, neither, fairly dissatisfied or very dissatisfied

[Very satisfied / Fairly satisfied / Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied / Fairly dissatisfied / Very dissatisfied]

Q3

Has Hounslow carried out a repair to your home in the last 12 months?

[Yes / No] 

Q4

[If Q3 = Yes] How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the overall repairs service from Hounslow over the last 12 months?

[Very satisfied / Fairly satisfied / Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied / Fairly dissatisfied / Very dissatisfied]

Q5

[If Q3 = Yes] How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the time taken to complete your most recent repair after you reported it?

[Very satisfied / Fairly satisfied / Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied / Fairly dissatisfied / Very dissatisfied]

Q6

How satisfied or dissatisfied are you that Hounslow provides a home that is well maintained?

[Very satisfied / Fairly satisfied / Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied / Fairly dissatisfied / Very dissatisfied] 

Q7

Thinking about the condition of the property or building you live in, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you that Hounslow provides a home that is safe?

[Very satisfied / Fairly satisfied / Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied / Fairly dissatisfied / Very dissatisfied / Not applicable / Don’t know]

Q8

[IF Q7 = Fairly / Very dissatisfied] Please tell me what makes your home unsafe [Open verbatim]

Q9

Do you live in a building with communal areas, either inside or outside, that Hounslow is responsible for maintaining?

[Yes / No / Don’t know] 

Q10

[IF Q9 = Yes] How satisfied or dissatisfied are you that Hounslow keeps these communal areas clean and well maintained?

[Very satisfied / Fairly satisfied / Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied / Fairly dissatisfied / Very dissatisfied]

Q11

How satisfied or dissatisfied are you that Hounslow makes a positive contribution to your neighbourhood?

[Very satisfied / Fairly satisfied / Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied / Fairly dissatisfied / Very dissatisfied / Not applicable / Don’t know]

Q12

To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following, “Hounslow treats me fairly and with respect The possible response options here are strongly agree, agree, neither, disagree, strongly disagree or don't know, not applicable

[Very satisfied / Fairly satisfied / Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied / Fairly dissatisfied / Very dissatisfied / Not applicable / Don’t know]

Q13

How satisfied or dissatisfied are you that Hounslow listens to your views and acts upon them?

[Very satisfied / Fairly satisfied / Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied / Fairly dissatisfied / Very dissatisfied / Not applicable / Don’t know]

Q14

How satisfied or dissatisfied are you that Hounslow keeps you informed about things that matter to you?

[Very satisfied / Fairly satisfied / Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied / Fairly dissatisfied / Very dissatisfied / Not applicable / Don’t know] 

Q15

Have you made a complaint to Hounslow in the last 12 months? [Yes / No]

Q16

[If Q15 = Yes] How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with Hounslow’s approach to complaints handling?

[Very satisfied / Fairly satisfied / Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied / Fairly dissatisfied / Very dissatisfied]

Q17

How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with Hounslow’s approach to handling anti-social behaviour?

[Very satisfied / Fairly satisfied / Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied / Fairly dissatisfied / Very dissatisfied / Not applicable / Don’t know]

Q18

At any stage during the past 12 months, have you felt as though you were struggling financially due to the cost of living crisis?

[Yes / No] 

Q19

[If any dissatisfied] You mentioned that you are dissatisfied with some aspects of service, please could you tell me what in particular led to you being dissatisfied? [Open verbatim] 

Q20

During the past year, can you think of any aspect of service that stands out as having been particularly good? [Open verbatim] 

Q21

Thank you very much for your time. Hounslow may want to contact you to better understand the service you receive. Would you be happy for them to get in touch with you?

[Yes / No]