Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs)
Executive Summary
Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs) were introduced by the government in April 2023 to provide a consistent and transparent way of assessing how satisfied tenants are with their homes and housing services. These measures are overseen by the Regulator of Social Housing and allow landlords like St Albans City & District Council to monitor performance, identify areas for improvement, and compare results with other providers.
In 2024/25, 18% of tenants responded to our satisfaction survey. The results showed positive movement in key areas including complaint response times and safety compliance. However, satisfaction with repairs, communication, and maintenance remains a clear priority. These insights are directly informing our service planning, resident engagement, and improvement activity for the year ahead.
Our Approach
How do we collect feedback from tenants? Toggle accordion
To ensure independence and fairness, we work with MEL Research — a specialist company commissioned to carry out the tenant satisfaction survey on our behalf.
Surveys are sent to all tenants to make sure everyone has the chance to take part. MEL distributed the surveys by post and online, and included a freephone number so tenants could respond by phone if preferred.
How many tenants did we speak to? Toggle accordion
For 2024/25, the survey was sent to all 4,673 tenants living in council-managed homes at the time. We received 833 completed responses, representing 18% of our tenants. We are very grateful to all residents who took the time to share their feedback.
An 18% response rate gives us results with a margin of error of ±3% at the 95% confidence level. This means that if we surveyed every tenant, the results would likely fall within 3% of those reported here. This exceeds the Regulator of Social Housing’s minimum standards for statistical reliability.
The results have been weighted by age and property type, based on Council records. (This is a change from 2023, when we used tenure type and property type for weighting).
Please note that responses based on smaller groups — such as tenants who have recently used a specific service — may have a wider margin of error.
How do we compare? Toggle accordion
This is the second year of collecting Tenant Satisfaction Measures, which means we can now compare this year’s performance with last year’s. These comparisons are shown in the results tables on this webpage and help us to identify trends and service improvements.
We also use the data to benchmark our performance against other housing providers. All social landlords are required to publish their results, and the Regulator of Social Housing will also release national comparison data. This helps tenants considering mutual exchanges or new tenancies to make informed choices.
What did the results tell us?
The results have informed a new departmental action plan and two targeted improvement plans for 2025/26 — one for complaint handling and one for responsive repairs. All actions will be monitored by residents through the Tenant & Leaseholder Forum and by councillors through the Housing & Inclusion Committee.
Some key findings from the 2024/25 survey include:
- 82% of tenants who felt their home was safe were satisfied overall, compared to just 12% of those who did not feel safe.
- Only 13% of tenants who said their home was not well maintained reported being satisfied overall. In contrast, 88% of those who felt their home was well maintained were satisfied with the Council’s housing services.
- Overall satisfaction dropped from 66% to 19% among tenants who were not satisfied with their local area.
- Performance on emergency repairs was strong, with 97.4% completed on time.
- 100% compliance was maintained across all major safety checks, including fire, asbestos, water, and lifts.
Non-emergency repairs completed within 28 days fell from 84.73% in 2023/24 to 79.3% in 2024/25.
Further Insight
Analysis of unweighted data provided additional insight that will shape future engagement:
- Satisfaction levels tend to increase with tenant age and length of tenancy.
- Male tenants reported higher satisfaction than female tenants (64% vs. 57%).
- Satisfaction was highest among tenants in bungalows (65%), followed by houses (60%), flats (58%), and maisonettes (43%).
- Tenants receiving housing benefit reported higher satisfaction (68%) than those not receiving benefit (56%).
The areas scoring highest overall were tenant safety and feeling treated fairly and with respect.
Looking ahead, a new resident engagement platform will launch in summer 2025 to support better communication and information sharing. Resident feedback remains central to service improvement, and progress will continue to be monitored through performance reporting, future surveys, and resident forums.
To find out more or get involved in shaping services, please visit the Resident Engagement page or contact the Housing Services Team.
Tenant Satisfaction Measures - 2024-25 Toggle accordion
Measure | Reporting method/expression | Total |
4814 Dwellings | ||
Complaints relative to the size of the landlord- St.1 | Per 1,000 dwellings | 41.8 |
Complaints relative to the size of the landlord- St.2 | Per 1,000 dwellings | 10.6 |
Complaints responded to within Complaint Handling Code timescales St.1 | per 1,000 dwellings | 79.60 |
Complaints responded to within Complaint Handling Code timescales St.2 | per 1,000 dwellings | 72.50 |
ASB cases relative to the size of the landlord | Per 1,000 dwellings | 18.7 |
Hate crimes reported relative to the size of the landlord | Per 1,000 dwellings | 0.2 |
Homes that do not meet the Decent Homes Standard | Percentage | 2.6% |
Repairs completed within target timescales | ||
a) Non emergency Repairs (28 days) | Percentage | 79.3% |
b) Emergency repairs 24 hours | Percentage | 97.4% |
Gas safety checks | Percentage | 99.7% |
Fire safety checks | Percentage | 100% |
Asbestos safety checks | Percentage | 100% |
Water safety checks | Percentage | 100% |
Lift safety checks | Percentage | 100% |
Tenant Satisfaction Measures - 2023-24 Toggle accordion
Measure | Reporting method/expression | Total |
4899 Dwellings | ||
Complaints relative to the size of the landlord- St.1 | Per 1,000 dwellings | 13.88 |
Complaints relative to the size of the landlord- St.2 | Per 1,000 dwellings | 4.69 |
Complaints responded to within Complaint Handling Code timescales St.1 | per 1,000 dwellings | 77.94 |
Complaints responded to within Complaint Handling Code timescales St.2 | per 1,000 dwellings | 60.87 |
ASB cases relative to the size of the landlord | Per 1,000 dwellings | 15.1 |
Hate crimes reported relative to the size of the landlord | Per 1,000 dwellings | 1.63 |
Homes that do not meet the Decent Homes Standard | Percentage | 2.39% |
Repairs completed within target timescales | ||
a) Non emergency Repairs (28 days) | Percentage | 84.73% |
b) Emergency repairs 24 hours | Percentage | 98.17% |
Gas safety checks | Percentage | 99.55% |
Fire safety checks | Percentage | 100% |
Asbestos safety checks | Percentage | 100% |
Water safety checks | Percentage | 98.95% |
Lift safety checks | Percentage | 100% |
SADC Tenant Perception Survey 2024-25 Toggle accordion
Measure | St Albans 2024-25 |
TP01 Overall satisfaction with the landlord | 54% |
TP02 Satisfaction with repairs | 55% |
TP03 Satisfaction with time taken to complete most recent repair | 49% |
TP04 Satisfaction that the home is well maintained | 50% |
TP05 Satisfaction that the home is safe | 58% |
TP06 Satisfaction that the landlord listens to tenant views and acts upon them | 43% |
TP07 Satisfaction that the landlord keeps tenants informed about things that matter to them | 48% |
TP08 Agreement that the landlord treats tenants fairly and with respect | 58% |
TP09 Satisfaction with the landlord’s approach to handling complaints | 21% |
TP10 Satisfaction that the landlord keeps communal areas clean and well maintained | 44% |
TP11 Satisfaction that the landlord makes a positive contribution to neighbourhoods | 43% |
TP12 Satisfaction with the landlord’s approach to handling anti-social behaviour | 43% |
SADC Tenant Perception Survey 2023-24 Toggle accordion
Fieldwork 14/12/2023 - 14/2/2024
Measure | St Albans 2023-24 |
TP01 Overall satisfaction with the landlord | 62% |
TP02 Satisfaction with repairs | 59% |
TP03 Satisfaction with time taken to complete most recent repair | 53% |
TP04 Satisfaction that the home is well maintained | 57% |
TP05 Satisfaction that the home is safe | 65% |
TP06 Satisfaction that the landlord listens to tenant views and acts upon them | 43% |
TP07 Satisfaction that the landlord keeps tenants informed about things that matter to them | 51% |
TP08 Agreement that the landlord treats tenants fairly and with respect | 64% |
TP09 Satisfaction with the landlord’s approach to handling complaints | 25% |
TP10 Satisfaction that the landlord keeps communal areas clean and well maintained | 41% |
TP11 Satisfaction that the landlord makes a positive contribution to neighbourhoods | 49% |
TP12 Satisfaction with the landlord’s approach to handling anti-social behaviour | 43% |