Report exposes difficulties in social housing sector based on consumer experiences
The UK's leading housing data specialist, Housemark, has published a report titled 'Raising the Bar,' highlighting several challenges within the social housing sector. The report, released on Monday 9 September, focuses on four main areas: service delivery, tenant satisfaction, asset management, and compliance with the Decent Homes Standard 2 (DHS2).
Service Delivery
Providers face increasing pressure to improve the responsiveness, efficiency, and quality of services amid resource constraints and rising tenant expectations. The report emphasises the need for social housing providers to raise standards across operational areas to meet governmental and tenant expectations.
Tenant Satisfaction
Engaging tenants effectively and ensuring their feedback leads to tangible improvements presents an ongoing challenge. With evolving expectations, it is crucial for providers to adapt and respond to tenant needs to improve satisfaction levels.
Asset Management
Maintaining and upgrading housing stock to meet modern standards and safety requirements is a significant challenge, especially given aging properties and budget limitations. Providers must invest in their assets to ensure they meet the expectations of both the government and their tenants.
Compliance with DHS2
Ensuring homes meet the revised Decent Homes Standard 2 involves upgrading energy efficiency, safety features, and other attributes, requiring significant investment and strategic planning. The report predicts a sharp decline in compliance rates with the upcoming DHS2, underscoring the need for providers to balance these financial demands alongside other priorities.
The report also reveals that up to one million tenant complaints have gone unrecorded in the past year, eight times the number reported by landlords. Only one in three residents were satisfied with the way their landlord was handling complaints, which is the lowest score of all Tenant Satisfaction Measures.
Jonathan Cox, chief data officer at Housemark, stated that the findings show how far the sector has to go. He emphasised the importance of accurate data and proactive engagement in identifying issues before they become crises.
According to the report, more than half of landlords recorded full compliance for four out of the five building safety measures in 2023/24. However, damp and mould issues remain the top cause for concern in social homes, with one in five cases resurfacing within a year.
The research for the report was conducted by Housemark, using data from the first 23 consumer standards inspections by the Regulator of Social Housing and Housemark's own unique data. The report also predicts that nearly 600,000 additional properties in England could fail to meet the new standards within the first year, based on recent experience in Scotland.
Housing providers must act now to ensure compliance with the new regulatory standards and provide a positive tenant experience, according to Cox. He also mentioned that it takes 18 months to see service improvement actions reflected in satisfaction metrics.
The report concludes that social housing providers must rise to these challenges to meet governmental and tenant expectations, as detailed in the Housemark report "Raising the Bar."
- To improve the quality of services and comply with governmental expectations, social housing providers must prioritize investing in their homes for both energy efficiency and safety features, as highlighted in the 'Raising the Bar' report.
- In the realm of lifestyle and mental health, advertisements for home-and-garden products and fitness-and-exercise equipment might be more effective if they cater to social housing tenants, given the high number of unrecorded tenant complaints and the reported low tenant satisfaction with complaint handling.
- Engaging with social housing tenants extends beyond service delivery and tenant satisfaction – it is equally important to promote health-and-wellness initiatives and encourage a sense of community in social housing spaces, as indicated by the comprehensive 'Raising the Bar' report.
