Industry News


Satisfaction with housing remains high but outcomes vary across tenure types


T


he latest results from the English Housing Survey have revealed that the majority of households are satisfied with their current


accommodation. Te majority are satisfied with their accommodation (88%) with over half feeling ‘very satisfied’ (56%). Fewer than one in 10 households felt dissatisfied


with their accommodation (7%) and only 3% felt ‘very dissatisfied’. But the proportion of households satisfied with their accommodation has fallen slightly over the last 10 years. Back in 2012/13, 91% reported being satisfied and 60% very satisfied. Overall, owner occupiers were more likely


to be satisfied (94%) than all other tenures (82% for private renters and 74% for social renters). Compared to 10 years ago, owner occupiers and social renters are less satisfied (95% and 80% respectively) and private renters were unchanged. Within the social rented sector, housing


association renters (76%) were more likely to be satisfied than local authority renters (71%). Local authority (20%) and housing association (17%) renters were also more likely to be dissatisfied with their accommodation than private renters (10%) and owner occupiers (3%).


REGIONAL DIFFERENCES Households living in London were most likely to report feeling dissatisfied with their accommodation (10%) and there were no significant differences between the other regions (5% to 7%). Tis is most prominent in the local authority sector, where over a quarter of local authority renters in London were dissatisfied (26%) compared with local authority renters outside of London (18%). Households who did not receive any housing


support (82%) were more likely to be satisfied with their accommodation than households who did receive support. By tenure, housing association and private


renters who did not receive any housing support (80% and 85%, respectively) were more likely to be satisfied than those who received housing support (both 73%). Tere was no significant difference among local authority renters. Overall, households with a white household


reference person (HRP) were more likely to report being satisfied with their current accommodation (90%) compared to households with an ethnic minority HRP (79%). Tis trend was also observed among owner


occupiers, social renters and private renters. Similarly, there was a higher proportion of ethnic minority households who reported feeling dissatisfied (12%) compared with white households (6%). Tis relationship is seen in all tenures.


When asked why they were dissatisfied, one in


three (29%) households said the ‘landlord is slow to get things done’, over a quarter mentioned that the ‘landlord does not bother’ (26%), 20% mentioned ‘other’ reasons, 13% said the ‘landlord does the bare minimum’ and 12% said the ‘work done is of poor quality’. Over two-thirds of households were satisfied


with the housing services provided by their landlord or freeholder (68%), 12% were neither satisfied or dissatisfied and 19% were dissatisfied. Private renters were more likely to report being


satisfied with the housing services provided (76%) than all other tenures (51% to 65%). Social renters were also more likely to report being feeling satisfied with the housing services (64%) than owner occupier leaseholders (51%).


COMPLAINTS MADE Of those who considered making a complaint, 79% of private and social renters did. Tey were then asked whether they made the complaint to either their landlord or agent. Over half of social renters who considered a


Households living in London were most likely to report feeling dissatisfied with their accommodation (10%) and there were no significant differences between the other regions (5% to 7%)


ISSUES CAUSING DIS-SATISFACTION Renters and owner occupier leaseholders were asked how satisfied they were with the repairs and/or maintenance provided by their landlord or freeholder. Just under two-thirds of households said they were satisfied (63%), 10% were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied and over a quarter were dissatisfied (28%). Satisfaction was then assessed against the Decent


Homes Standard. Generally, households in non- decent homes were more likely to be dissatisfied with repairs and maintenance (31%) than households in decent homes (27%).


6 | HMMAugust/September 2024 | www.housingmmonline.co.uk


complaint mentioned they had complained to their landlord (58%), under a quarter had complained to the tenant management organisation (23%) and 21% had not made a complaint. For private renters, less than half (44%) reported making a complaint to their landlords, around 40% complained to their agent and 21% did not make a complaint. Social renters who made a complaint were


most likely to report they were unhappy with the response. Nearly half (47%) of private renters and 66% of social renters said they were not happy with the response to their complaint. Private renters tended to say they were more satisfied with the response to their complaints than social renters. About 17% of social renters said they were happy


with ‘some’ of the response, and a further 17% said they were happy with ‘all’ of the responses from their landlord or agent. A quarter of private renters said they were happy about ‘some’ of the response and a further 28% with ‘all’ of the response. Social renters mainly reported complaining about


repairs (89%) followed by: the quality of their home (26%), anti-social behaviour in the area (11%), neighbours (9%), behaviour of the landlord (4%) and behaviour of tenancy management organisation (3%). Private renters complained mostly about repairs (79%), the quality of their home (32%) and the behaviour of the landlord (8%). Social renters were more likely to complain about


anti-social behaviour (11%) than private renters (5%), while private renters were more likely to complain about the quality of their homes (32%) than social renters (26%).


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