More than 550 residents took part in our tenant and leaseholder survey between November and December 2020.
The telephone survey was anonymous and carried out by an independent social research and behavioural insights consultancy - M.E.L Research.
Here are a few of the key results:
- 68% of tenants are satisfied with the overall services provided by Folkestone and Hythe District Council. 78% of tenants are satisfied with the overall quality of their home, and 82% are satisfied with their neighbourhood as a place to live
- 62% are satisfied that the landlord (F&HDC) is easy to deal with
- of those that pay service charges, 70% are satisfied that these provide value for money
- 52% are satisfied that the landlord (F&HDC) listens to tenants and acts upon their views
- this survey took place shortly after the council took over the housing service from East Kent Housing in October 2020. The results show that more than two thirds of tenants (67%) believe that the safety of homes will now be more of a priority, while six in ten (61%) believe that the advice and support available to tenants will improve, and that tenants will be listened to more (also 61%).
Action plan:
We have looked at all of the survey results, together with the Tenant and Leaseholder Board, to create an action plan of what is being done this year to make our housing service the best it can be. Read some of the key outcomes of the survey below.
- 62% of tenants are satisfied that the landlord is 'easy to deal with'
We will improve the time it takes to get back to tenants by setting up customer service training for our team who regularly deal with tenants, and aim to introduce 'mystery shoppers' to regularly monitor the service we provide - Improving repairs and maintenance is the most important aspect of the service for tenants
We will work with our contractors, Mears, to improve further the time it takes to respond to and complete a repair, and keep tenants better informed about their repair. We will monitor feedback given via a Mears customer satisfaction survey sent after each appointment. - One in four of tenants are interested in getting more involved in having a say on how the housing service is run
We will continue to follow up with everyone who said they are interested in joining a tenant group to give them more information. We have also worked closely with the Tenant and Leaseholder Board to produce a Tenant Engagement Strategy which includes various ways that tenants can engage with the council and have their views listened to. The tenant and leaseholder consultation for our Tenant Engagement Strategy has now closed and we will be able to publish details shortly. - One in ten of tenants say they are affected by anti-social behaviour (ASB)
We will develop a satisfaction survey for tenants to complete after an ASB case has been dealt with and the feedback will be used to review our service and performance. We do not tolerate anti-social behaviour and work closely with Kent Police and other agencies to protect our tenants
We used the Housemark 'STAR' survey model for this survey. STAR ('Survey of Tenants & Residents') is a survey model designed for social housing and was developed with the input of social landlords and residents. Using this survey model means we are able to more easily compare our results with other landlords, via Housemark benchmarking, and better monitor our performance.
If you would like to read a report on the survey results please email tenant.involvement@folkestone-hythe.gov.uk or write to the Tenant Liaison Officer at the council, and we will send a copy out to you.
Would you like to get more involved in your housing service?
Carrying out this survey is just part of the work we do to involve tenants and leaseholders in developing the way we work. If you would like to get more involved in our housing service, perhaps by taking part in more surveys like this, or joining the Tenant and Leaseholder Board, please write to the Tenant Liaison Officer at the council and we'll get back to you to let you know more information.