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New STAR survey framework launched with focus on safety and rating system
An updated version of the social housing sector’s most widely used tenant satisfaction survey has launched, with an added focus on safety and provision for a five-star rating system.
The new STAR survey framework, devised by business intelligence service HouseMark, also places greater emphasis on how easy residents find their landlord to deal with.
It follows a review of the framework prompted by the Social Housing Green Paper, with views gathered from 13,000 residents and more than 300 landlords representing most of England’s social housing stock.
Changes from the old framework – which is used by the majority of social landlords to gauge resident satisfaction – include fewer core questions and the ability to complete the survey online or by text.
The survey now includes new core questions about how happy residents are that their landlord keeps their home safe and secure and whether it is easy to deal with.
Residents listed the quality of their home as the most important factor in being satisfied with their landlord, while ease of dealing with the organisation was also rated as highly important.
HouseMark said the data indicates that landlords making interactions with tenants simple and straightforward is likely to have a big impact on satisfaction levels.
A question asking how satisfied residents are with their neighbourhood as a place to live has been demoted to a recommended question following concerns from landlords that this is not always in their control.
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Jonathan Cox, deputy director of business intelligence at HouseMark, said: “The Social Housing Green Paper was a catalyst for undertaking the review, and clearly in the wake of Grenfell health and safety is a big concern.
“Our testing with residents and landlords found that it was something that needed to be included.
“The review also highlighted the importance of softer measures like the ease of doing business with the landlord. This is a big driver of overall satisfaction and has been added into the new framework as well.”
A new five-star rating system, launching in June, is also intended to give a clearer indication of landlords’ performance overall and across key areas.
To enable comparisons between landlords, ratings will be weighted based on variables that can affect satisfaction, such as geography, tenants’ age profile and survey methodology.
Satisfaction levels are generally lower in London, among younger tenants and for survey participants responding online.
Five-star ratings were chosen because they “are well understood by residents and have quick visual appeal”, Mr Cox said.
HouseMark has also tried to put “clear blue water” between results gathered through random “perception” surveys and “transactional” surveys carried out after an interaction such as a repair that can be up to 12% higher, he added.
The service said that average self-reported overall satisfaction reported by landlords is 85%, while its research and the 2017/18 English Housing Survey published by the government both identified a 71% figure.
Jenny Osbourne, chief executive of tenant engagement service Tpas, said: “We know that in the past residents have often been cynical of satisfaction performance reported by landlords.
“The new STAR framework offers a valuable opportunity for landlords to reset their relationships, focus on what matters to tenants, and access meaningful insight to help drive service improvement.”
