Understanding Tenant Satisfaction Measures:

Your Guide to Better Social Housing

  • What are TSMs?
  • What are the measures?
  • What We're Focusing On

In spring 2023, a new way to improve social housing came into play. It's called Tenant Satisfaction Measures, or TSMs for short.

These measures are all about making sure you're happy with your home and the service you receive as a valued customer.



What TSMs mean for Aspire?

 

Think of TSMs as our report card. They show you how well we're doing our job and give you a clear way to hold us accountable. Plus, they help the regulator spot any areas where we might need to up our game.

We want you to know that these measures are all about making Aspire Housing better for you, from our homes to our housing services and even our Aspire team.

There are 22 TSMs in total, and they cover two main areas:

 

  1. Your Voice (12 measures)
    This is where you get to tell us how we're doing. Are you happy with our repairs? Do you feel we handle complaints well? Your honest feedback helps us improve.

  2. Our Performance (10 measures)
    These are based on facts and figures about our service. For example, how many of our homes meet the Decent Homes standard, or how we're handling any neighbourhood issues.

At Aspire, we're using TSMs to make sure we're on top of what matters most to you:

 

•  Keeping your home in tip-top shape with great repairs


•  Ensuring your building is safe and high-quality


•  Treating you with respect and being helpful whenever you need us


•  Handling any complaints quickly and fairly


•  Making sure your locality and neighbourhood is a great place to live

Our latest TSM Results

We publish our TSM results on a quarterly basis so that you can stay up to date with how we are progressing throughout the year.

 

By providing these regular updates, we aim to maintain transparency and keep you informed about our achievements, challenges, and overall performance. This consistent reporting allows you to track our growth, understand our strategic direction, and see how we are meeting our goals over time.

 

To see how we performed during our last quarter, look below. Here, you will find detailed insights and comprehensive data that reflect our recent activities and outcomes.

TSM Results header-1

Annual TSM results

We're excited to share our comprehensive annual summary for the fiscal year 2023/24.

 

This report isn't just a collection of numbers – it's a story of our commitment to you, our valued tenants, and the strides we've made in improving our services.

Just click the "Annual TSM results" button below to get started, navigate to the "Financial Information, Reports and Policies" drop-down menu, and choose the "Annual Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs)" option. 

Here, you will find detailed insights into our performance metrics and tenant satisfaction.

Annual TSM results

What questions are asked in our survey?

Curious About Our Survey? Peek Behind the Curtain!

 

Ever wondered what we're really asking in our tenant satisfaction survey? It's not just about ticking boxes – we're diving deep into what matters most to you.

Have more questions?

We’ve got answers!

 

Visit our FAQs for everything you need to know about our TSMs.

From basic information to detailed explanations, we ensure that you have all the knowledge you need at your fingertips. Find the info you're looking for in no time.

Learn more

Results for April - June 2024

We will update our live results four times a year.

Overall Satisfaction

Overall Satisfaction

78%

of customers living in rented homes are satisfied with the overall service provided by Aspire.

 

Engagement

Engagement

 

81%

of customers said they are treated fairly and with respect.

77%

of customers said they are satisfied that they are kept informed about the things that matter to them.

70%

of customers said they are satisfied that we listen to their views and act on them.

 

Building Safety

Building Safety

 

99.8%

of homes met the Decent Homes Standard on March 31st 2024.

99.9%

of customers said they are satisfied that they are kept informed about the things that matter to them.

100%

of customers said they are satisfied that we listen to their views and act on them.

 

 

Maintenance

77%

of customers were satisfied with their overall repairs service over the last 12 months.

70%

of customers were satisfied with the time it took to complete their most recent repair.

77%

of customers are satisfied their home is well maintained.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cog Spanner

 

 

 

78%

 

of customers are satisfied that we provide a home which is safe.

 

94%

 

of emergency repairs were completed within target.

 

53%

 

of non-emergency repairs were completed within target.

 

Complaints

Complaints

 

46%

of customers are satisfied with Aspire's approach to complaints handling.

21

On average, Aspire received 84 complaints per 1,000 homes in Q1 of 2024/25 (stage 1 and 2 complaints).

88%

of Stage 1 complaints were completed within ten working days.

83%

of Stage 2 complaints were completed within 20 working days.

 

Neighbourhoods

Neighbourhoods

 

67%

of customers are satisfied we keep communal areas clean and well maintained.

64%

of customers are satisfied we make a positive contribution to neighbourhoods.

58%

of customers are satisfied with Aspire's ASB handling approach.

9

cases of ASB were reported per 1,000 homes so far in Q1 2024/25.

 

FAQs

Why are we doing this survey?

We’re undertaking a new customer satisfaction perception survey from April 2023 to meet new regulatory requirements.

 

Further, tenant satisfaction is a key measure of our ‘People First’ strategy, and measures from this survey form part of our corporate KPI suite.

What is our approach?

We’re taking a ‘look twice’ approach to our customer satisfaction survey results: looking once to improve things for the individual customer affected; and a second time to identify wider patterns that can improve things for our business and wider customer base. As such, we propose to take a sample-based approach rather than a census approach, and a phased approach of surveying continuously across the year, rather than as a one-off annual activity.

 

We’re taking this approach as we believe this steady and manageable stream of feedback to be the most effective way to comprehensively listen and respond to the feedback received, providing the most benefit to both the customers responding and our business.

 

Additionally, although satisfaction statistics are important, we believe the greatest value from these surveys in uncovering the reasons behind the figures, understanding, and learning from, the customer’s experience. As such, we’ve chosen to take a primarily telephone-based approach to our surveys,*1 allowing us to build a rapport with the respondents and delve deeper into their perceptions of us to gain additional and actionable insight for improvement.

 

We also know this to be the most inclusive method to surveying our customers, as we’re missing email and mobile phone data for some of our lead tenants currently.


 

*1 - Whilst telephone is our primary approach, this will be supported by self-completion methods such as text/email to improve inclusivity and accessibility. More details can be found under ‘How we collect the data in the survey’ section of this menu.

What is the Aspire Census?

Due to the size of our housing stock, we propose to take a sampling approach in line with the TSM guidance requirements.
Due to our current stock of shared ownership properties being less than 1000, we are only required to survey those in our rented accommodation.*2
Each household must not be represented more than once per year.

 

In line with the required minimum levels for statistical accuracy (as shown in the table below), we will ensure that our sample size is calculated each year to be statistically significant and provide results with a 95% confidence interval of +/- 4%.

To do this, we will take a random sample of our households as our sampling frame to invite to survey each month, to achieve responses from at least 47 customers per month (to be reviewed annually to reflect changes in stock numbers).

We will utilise the ‘random selection’ filter within the Call Manager function to allow us to randomly select the tenants to invite.

 

Table 5: Required minimum levels of statistical accuracy for overall satisfaction

Population

Required minimum statistical accuracy

(margin of error at 95% confidence level)

Fewer than 2,500 dwelling units

+/- 5%*

2,500 - 9,999 dwelling units

+/- 4%

10,000 - 24,999 dwelling units

+/- 3%

25,000 dwelling units or more

+/- 2%

* Where it is not possible to achieve this level of statistical accuracy (for example for many providers with fewer than 1,000 dwelling units of relevant social housing stock), employing a census approach is sufficient to meet this requirement.

 

We’ll take a stratified random sampling approach, dividing households into subgroups based on their tenancy start date.
Each month, our random sample will select from only those with tenancy start dates from a specified calendar month.

This is to ensure that all households have an equal chance of being selected across the course of the year and prevents the same household from being surveyed more than once per year.

In any particular month, we intend to sample only those households with a tenancy start month of five months prior. For example, in September we would be surveying households with a tenancy start month of April.
This is to prevent over-surveying or under-surveying of our newest tenants (i.e. those with us less than 12 months).

Matching surveying calendar month exactly to tenancy start date calendar month would mean surveying these tenants immediately at move in (clashing with our new tenant survey) or at their 1-year anniversary (excluding the voices of any customers with us for less than a year).

Having a five-month lag means that these customers will have a gap between these survey invites and will also mean that customers with us less than a year will still get the opportunity to be surveyed.


 

*2 - This will need to be reviewed annually. Aspire current shared ownership stock circa 500.

How we collect the data in the survey

We utilise software called ‘CX Feedback’ for customer surveys, which allows us to track responses and complete surveys by a combination of telephone, text and email. Due to our primary preference towards telephone (discussed in section 1 ‘Rationale’, above) we propose to take the following approach to collecting the survey responses:

 

•  Invite attempt 1 – phone

•  Invite attempt 2 – phone

•  Invite attempt 3 – text/email (dependent on available contact data and recorded preferences)

 

We believe that the combination of multiple attempts, combined with multiple completion methods, provides fair and balanced opportunity to participate.

 

When the telephone calls are made, the customer will also be given the option of having the survey sent to them for self-completion via text or email if they prefer. The customer will also be offered a call back for telephone completion at a time more preferred to them if this is more suitable for them.

 

All surveys will be collected through the survey built in the CX Feedback software, and the data stored there securely.

Survey Design

The survey questions included are the 12 questions required by the TSM regulation. In addition to these, we have included open text comment boxes after some questions to record additional insight and reasons behind the answers given. A further measure capturing satisfaction with value for money of rent has also been added, which we previously collected through STAR and is used by the Finance team for various reports.

 

At the end of the survey, we include a question to establish whether they consent to being re-contacted regarding any issues they raised.

 

A survey introduction page has been designed, with wording matching the requirements of page 8 of TSM guidance Annex 5. This also includes a link to our privacy statement, and a statement that the responses are confidential, and responses will not affect the customer’s tenancy.

Equalities and Inclusion

It is important that we make participation in the survey as accessible as possible. The below details potential identified barriers to participation, and actions taken to reduce these:

 

1.  Language – Telephone researcher to speak in plain English and clearly. All written instructions to be written in plain English. ‘Read aloud’ functionality included in the survey design for those self-completing.

 

2.  Visual impairment – Telephone survey completion reduces this barrier. Font size of 14 or above used throughout the survey. ‘Read aloud’ functionality included in the survey design for those self-completing.

 

3.  Literacy – Telephone survey completion reduces this barrier. All written instructions to be written in plain English. ‘Read aloud’ functionality included in the survey design for those self-completing.

 

4.  Lack of access to digital – Telephone survey completion reduces this barrier. Options to send by text or email too.

Customer Representation

It’s a requirement of the TSM regulation to ensure that the survey results are representative of our customer population.

 

This includes the following characteristics as identified by the TSM guidance: stock type; age; ethnicity; building type; household or property size; and geographical area.

 

To do this, we are taking the following approach:

 

•   A review of our internal customer data, identifying data quality gaps and driving forward an action plan to improve them

 

•   Utilising the ‘representation monitoring’ dashboard provided within CX Feedback, which compares the characteristic breakdown of the respondents compared to the target population. Customer characteristics to monitor will include, but not be limited to:-

stock type; age; ethnicity; building type; household or property size; geographical area.

 

•   Utilise this insight to target under-represented groups where needed

Data Protection

A data protection assessment was carried out in Jan 2021 for our CX Feedback surveying software and activity. This will be reviewed every three years.

 

Customer response data is kept confidential and consent is gathered through the survey as to whether they are happy to be re-contacted regarding any issues raised.

 

When conducted by telephone, customers are asked at the beginning if they consent to take part. Customers who receive a self completion questionnaire can choose whether or not to complete the survey by clicking on the attached link. A link to Aspire’s data privacy statement is included at the top of every survey.

 

Access to CX Feedback is secure and requires individual log in, with accounts set up and managed by the Business Intelligence team. Permission settings are utilised within the CX Feedback software to control the level of information users have access to. This is controlled by the software administrators within the Business Intelligence team.

Results and Analysis

Dashboards

The primary method of displaying results is through live data visualisation dashboards. Other visualisation tools may be used to support reporting in static reports. 


Calculations

The majority of the TSM questions are answered on a 5 point scale. Those classified as ‘satisfied’ or to ‘agree’ will be only those who have selected one of the top 2 options from the 5 point scale. Those selecting the middle response will be included in the calculations, but those responding ‘don’t know’ or ‘not applicable’ will be removed from performance calculations.

Dissemination and Sharing of Results

Internal Reporting

Results and performance will be shared internally on a monthly basis through the Performance reports. These will be published on the Insight Hub for the whole organisation to access, and also shared upwards to leadership and Board through the usual reporting channels.

 

The corporate KPIs have been updated for the 23/24 financial year to include the TSMs to improve transparency and accountability within leadership and the wider business.

 

External reporting

As required by the regulator, results will be submitted annually to the regulator by the Business Intelligence team alongside the other measures collected.

 


 

Results will be published annually to our customers and stakeholders via the Aspire website and any other methods the comms and marketing team deem appropriate. The style of this publication will follow the Aspire comms style guide for accessibility and written in plain English

This approach was last reviewed as adhering to the Market Research Society Code of Conduct (mrs.org.uk) on 24/04/2024. This will be reviewed annually.

 

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