Tenants happier in Social Housing
New research from the Tenant Services Authority (TSA) has found that tenants in housing association properties are happier with their homes, neighbourhoods and landlords than 10 years ago.
Of the 21,000 tenants surveyed across England, only 12% of social tenants wanted to own their own home, down from 32% a decade ago. According to Peter Marsh, Chief Executive of the TSA, part of this trend can be explained by high satisfaction with social housing. He said:
"It's encouraging to see that, overall, 81% of tenants are satisfied with their landlords, a small steady rise over the past ten years. This is most evident in satisfaction about the quality of homes and neighbourhoods, which reflects the significant investment in improving existing homes over the past decade. Four out of five tenants are also satisfied with services such as dealing with repairs and handling complaints.
"But there's no room for complacency. One in five tenants feel that their landlord takes no notice of their views, and 18% of supported housing tenants – those who are vulnerable and need additional help – want to move because of poor services. We want landlords to have a greater focus on these issues."
Other headlines from the survey include:
- 92% of shared owners have not yet increased their share of the property since purchasing it, 25% of whom have been living in their home for the last 10 years.
- 28% of tenants with children aged 18 living with them expect them to move directly into social housing. Only 6% felt their children's first home would be a private tenancy.
- 72% of those who rent social housing want to stay in the sector for the forthcoming decade. Only 16% would like to switch to the private sector under the Right to Buy scheme, buying a home on the market or taking a private tenancy.
- 80% believe being a tenant of a housing association, local authority or an arm's-length management organisation is better than owning your own home or renting from a private landlord.
Results from the survey will be used as part of the work being undertaken by the TSA to compile standards for social housing landlords to improve still further the quality of services for tenants.
The TSA's survey, Existing Tenants Survey 2008 can be found using the link on the right.