Research Resource
17b Main Street
Cambuslang
G72 7EX / Barrhead Housing Association
68-70 Main Street
Barrhead, Glasgow
G78 1SB
Contact:Lorna Shaw / Contact: Jim Munro
Tel: 0141 641 6410 / Tel: 0141 881 0638
Report written by: Rosemary Stafford
Date: 22/01/14
Reviewed by: Elaine MacKinnon / Lorna Shaw
Date: 22/01/14
Barrhead Housing Association
Tenant Satisfaction Survey2013
Contents
1.EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
2.INTRODUCTION, BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
2.1Introduction
2.2Background and objectives
3.METHODOLOGY
3.1Research Method
3.2Questionnaire design
3.3Sample Size
3.4Interviewing and Quality Control
3.5Survey Analysis and Reporting
3.6Report Structure
4.OVERALL SATISFACTION
4.1Satisfaction with the overall service provided by Barrhead (Q1)
5.BECOMING A TENANT
5.1Standard of the home when moving in (Q2-Q4)
6.INFORMATION AND PARTICIPATION
6.1Keeping tenants informed (Q5/6)
6.2Use of the internet/ mobile apps and the Association’s website (Q7-Q12)
6.3Consultation methods (Q13)
6.4Participation opportunities (Q14/15)
7.CONTACT WITH THE LANDLORD
7.1Contact method (Q16)
7.2Email and text messaging (Q17)
7.3Contact with staff in the last 12 months (Q19 to Q24)
8.PERCEPTIONS OF THE LANDLORD AND ITS SERVICES
8.1Perceptions of Barrhead as a landlord (Q25)
8.2Landlord priorities (Q26)
8.3Prioritisation analysis
9.REPAIRS SERVICE
9.1Satisfaction with the way Barrhead deals with repairs & maintenance (Q27-29)
9.2Satisfaction with aspects of repairs service (Q30)
9.3Tradesman showing proof of identity (Q31)
9.4Appointments being kept (Q32)
9.5Major improvements (Q33/34)
9.6Quality of the home (Q35)
10.RENT, INCOME AND WELFARE BENEFITS
10.1Financial advice and support received from landlord (Q36)
10.2Value for money (Q37)
10.3Housing Benefit (Q38)
10.4Affordability of rent payments (Q39)
10.5Fuel Bills (Q40/41)
10.6Bank accounts (Q42)
11.THE NEIGHBOURHOOD
11.1Neighbourhood as a place to live (Q43)
11.2Satisfaction with grounds maintenance (Q44)
11.3Neighbourhood management (Q45/46)
11.4Neighbourhood problems (Q47-51)
11.5Change in the neighbourhood (Q52)
12.COMPLAINTS
12.1Nature of complaints (Q53/54)
12.2Satisfaction with aspects of complaints handling (Q55)
12.3Perceptions of staff dealing with the complaint (Q56)
12.4Overall satisfaction with the way the complaint was handled (Q57)
12.5Overall satisfaction with the final outcome of the complaint (Q58)
12.6Awareness of formal complaints procedure (Q59)
13.YOU AND YOUR HOUSEHOLD
13.1Age and gender (Q60)
13.2Household composition (Q61)
13.3Working status (Q62)
13.4Health conditions or disabilities (Q63)
13.5Ethnicity (Q64)
13.6Additional comments (Q65)
14.RESIDENT OWNERS
14.1Introduction
14.2Overall satisfaction (Q1)
14.3Communication methods (Q3)
14.4Use of the internet and mobile apps (Q4-9)
14.5Contacting the Association (Q11-13)
14.6Consultation (Q14)
14.7Factoring services (Q15)
14.8Factoring charges (Q18-25)
14.9Satisfaction with the neighbourhood (Q26)
14.10Neighbourhood problems (Q27-32)
14.11Change in the neighbourhood (Q32)
14.12Complaints made to the Association (Q33-39)
14.13Further comments
14.14Household details (Q40-46)
15.NON-RESIDENT OWNERS
15.1Introduction
15.2Overall satisfaction (Q1/2)
15.3Satisfaction with factoring services (Q3)
15.4Opinions on Association staff (Q4)
15.5Factoring charge (Q5/6)
15.6Quality of information (Q7)
15.7Other comments
16.CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Tenants Questionnaire
Resident Owners Questionnaire
Non Resident Owners Questionnaire
APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONNAIRE
APPENDIX 2: TECHNICAL REPORT SUMMARY
Research Resource1
Tenant Satisfaction Survey 2013
1.EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
INTRODUCTION
Barrhead Housing Association commissioned Research Resource to carry out a customer satisfaction survey on their behalf.
A total of 350face to face interviews were carried out with Barrhead Housing Association’s tenants in order to assess satisfaction with the Association and the services it provides. Interviews took place between the 6th December 2013 and the 8th January 2014.
350 interviews represents a 40% response rate from tenants in scope for the research.
Analysis of the participant profile shows that the survey sample is broadly representative by property type, house size and age. This provides robust data upon which the Association can be confident about making decisions.
In addition to the tenants’ questionnaire, the Association’s resident and non resident owners were also consulted with. A total of 12 non resident owners responded to a postal questionnaire and 52 resident owners were interviewed on a face to face basis.
This executive summary highlights the key findings from this programme of research.
OVERALL SATISFACTION
Scottish Housing Regulator indicators (Tenants only)2011 / 2013
Q1 Taking everything into account, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the overall service provided by Barrhead Housing Association? (% very/ fairly satisfied) NB Quality of services in 2011 / 97% / 95%
Q5 How good or poor do you feel Barrhead is at keeping you informed about their services and decisions? (%very good/ fairly good) / 100% / 99%
Q14 How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the opportunities given to you to participate in Barrhead’s decision making process? (% very/ fairly satisfied) / 98% / 59%
Q29 Thinking about the LAST time you had repairs carried out, how satisfied or dissatisfied were you with the repairs and maintenance service provided by Barrhead? (% very/ fairly satisfied)- Those who have reported a repair in the last 12 months (2011 figure is based on all tenants) / 94% / 93%
Q35 Overall, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the quality of your home? (% very/ fairly satisfied) / - / 94%
Q3 [IF LIVED IN THEIR PROPERTY FOR LESS THAN 12 MONTHS] Thinking about when you moved in, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the standard of your home? (% very/ fairly satisfied) / - / 82%
Q37 Taking into account the accommodation and services Barrhead provides, to what extent do you think that the rent for this property represents good or poor value for money? Is it… (% very good value/ fairly good value) / 46% / 51%
Q45 Overall, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with Barrhead management of the neighbourhood you live in? / - / 79%
AREAS OF HIGH PERFORMANCE
The results of the 2013 survey reveal that, in general, the Association is performing to a high standard. The following points show the key highlights where satisfaction was highest:
Satisfaction with the overall service provided by Barrhead Housing Association is high for all three of the Association’s customer groups with 95% of tenants stating they were either very or fairly satisfied, 88% of non-resident owners being satisfied and 92% of resident owners being satisfied.
Almost all tenants were of the opinion that the Association is very or fairly good at keeping them informed (99%).
Tenants rated the repairs service highly with 93% of tenants who had a repair carried out in the last year stating they were very or fairly satisfied.
More than 9 in 10 tenants said they were very or fairly satisfied with the quality of their home (94%).
The vast majority of respondents who had contacted the Association in the last 12 months rated the contact they had highly. For example:
- 97% said it was easy to get hold of the right person;
- 95% said the staff were helpful;
- 93% were satisfied with the ability of staff to deal with enquiries quickly and efficiently;
- 92% were satisfied with the final outcome of their enquiry.
With regards to tenants’ perceptions of the Association as a landlord, more than 9 in 10 tenants agreed with the following statements:
- Your landlord provides an effective and efficient service (96%)
- Your landlord is providing the service you expect (96%)
- Your landlord has friendly and approachable staff (96%)
- Your landlord treats its residents fairly (95%)
- Your landlord has a good reputation in your area (92%)
Almost all respondents who had major works completed to their home said they were very or fairly satisfied with the quality of the work (97%);
Over 9 in 10 respondents were very or fairly satisfied with the quality of their home (91%);
The majority of respondents who had contacted the Association about claiming housing benefit and other welfare benefits (99%) or about managing their finances, paying rent and service charges (89%) were satisfied with the advice and support they received.
More than 9 in 10 respondents said their neighbourhood was a very or fairly good place to live (95%) and 91% were satisfied with grounds maintenance such as grass cutting in their area.
ACTION PLANNING
The following points have been made to highlight key areas where there is room for improvement in terms of the Association’s current service offering. This includes indicators which have seen a decrease in satisfaction since the 2011 survey:
Value for money was an area where satisfaction was lower with just over half of tenants stating that the rent they pay represented very or fairly good value for money (51%).
Satisfaction with the opportunities provided to take part in Barrhead’s decision making policies revealed that satisfaction has decreased from 98% in 2011 to 59% in 2013.
In relation to affordability of heating bills, more respondents said they found it very or fairly difficult to afford electricity or gas bills for their home (27%) than found it very or fairly easy to afford (21%). The remaining 53% said it was just about affordable.
Those who had reported a neighbourhood issue to the Association (12 tenants) were more likely to be dissatisfied with the way their complaint was handled by the Association (58%) than satisfied (33%).
Where tenants had made a complaint about a service to the Association (11 tenants), dissatisfaction was high with regards to:
- The information and advice provided by staff (55% dissatisfied);
- How well you were kept informed about the progress of your complaint (64% dissatisfied);
- The support you received while your complaint was dealt with (64% dissatisfied);
- The speed with which your complaint was dealt with (64% dissatisfied)
More tenants were dissatisfied with the way their complaint was handled by the Association than satisfied (64% dissatisfied compared to 18% satisfied), and similarly more tenants were dissatisfied with the final outcome of their complaint than were satisfied (73% dissatisfied compared to 18% satisfied).
2.INTRODUCTION, BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
2.1Introduction
This report represents and discusses the findings to emerge from BarrheadHousing Association’sCustomer Satisfaction Survey 2013.
2.2Background and objectives
The aim of the research was to seek customers’ views on the services that Barrhead provides and how well it performs these services and to help identify areas where the service can be improved. Specifically the research was designed to provide customers views on the following:
The quality of information provided by Barrhead;
Feedback on customer care;
Quality of accommodation and the neighbourhood;
Service provision including repairs, maintenance and improvements;
Tenant involvement/ opportunities for participation;
Value for money.
Services provided to the Association’s owners
It is against this background that Research Resource were commissioned to carry out Barrhead’s 2013Customer Satisfaction Survey.
3.METHODOLOGY
3.1Research Method
We note that the Ipsos MORI guidance prepared on behalf of the Regulator debates the use of a range of different methodologies for carrying out the survey, including postal, online, telephone and face to face survey methods. However, given the requirement for a minimum of a 40% response rate and ensuring representative samples of tenants, it was decided that the tenant survey and the resident owner survey was carried out utilising a face to face survey methodologywith tenants. The face to face methodology is the methodology, which is most typically used for tenant satisfaction surveys. Our primary reasons for recommending this were:
Administering the survey utilising an interviewer led methodology allows us to maximise the response rate.
The proposed methodology is an inclusive methodology and allows interviewers to ensure that, for example, elderly or those with a disability or literacy problems can be included in the process. It also lets us identify any potential barriers to participation which can be raised and addressed in partnership with the Association.
Facilitates high quality of survey output as it allows the interviewer to build up a rapport with the participant ensuring that the questionnaire is answered in full and allowing explanation of the necessity for asking personal data.
In addition to the face to face survey with tenants and resident owners, a postal survey was sent to all 64 of the Association’s non resident owners.
3.2Questionnaire design
After consultation with Barrhead representatives, a survey questionnaire was agreed which fully met the information needs and requirements of the organisation and included all issues of importance for tenants.
In developing the questionnaire the following issues were considered:
The information needs listed in the survey brief;
The Scottish Social Housing Charter indicators upon which Barrhead is required to report;
Research Resource experience in relation to customer satisfaction surveying.
3.3Sample Size
The aim of the survey was to achievea robust level of data upon which the Association can have confidence making decisions upon and to maximise the response to the survey.
Overall, a total of 350 interviews were completed with Barrheadtenants, representing a 40% response rate and providing data accurate to +4.05% based upon a 50% estimate at the 95% confidence level. Tenant interviews were spread across each area of the Association’s stock to ensure coverage of all stock types.
The guidance from the Scottish Housing Regulator states that in all surveys, particularly postal surveys, some groups are more likely than others to respond. This means that certain subgroups will be under-represented and others will be over-represented in the final achieved sample (i.e. all the people who responded). Weighting ensures that received responses are representative of the whole survey population. The guidance suggests that social landlords will be likely to have suitable information on the population in terms of dwelling type (flats, semi detached house, detached, terraces) and the number of bedrooms.
The tables below show the sample profile broken down by age, property type and house size compared to the population. As can be seen below the interview profile was slightly over represented in terms of flats, smaller sized properties and those aged 75 and over.
Property type / Population / Survey responseAdapted Flat / 9% / 12%
Adapted House / 1% / 0%
Detached / 0% / 1%
Flat / 50% / 58%
Maisonette / 3% / 4%
Semi Detached / 17% / 7%
Sharing Owner / 1% / 1%
Sheltered Housing / 3% / 6%
Terraced / 14% / 11%
Town House / 1% / 0%
Total / 869 / 350
No. of bedrooms / Population / Survey response
0 / 0% / -
1 / 35% / 44%
2 / 38% / 38%
3 / 24% / 15%
4 / 2% / 2%
5 / 0% / 0%
Total / 869 / 350
Age / Population / Survey response
18-24 / 5% / 4%
25-34 / 18% / 20%
35-44 / 19% / 23%
45-54 / 21% / 17%
55-64 / 14% / 12%
65-74 / 8% / 11%
75+ / 7% / 13%
No data / 8% / -
Total / 869 / 350
The Association fully considered the profile of survey participants in this respect and decided that the survey data should not be weighted.
3.4Interviewing and Quality Control
All interviewing was undertaken by Research Resource’s highly trained and experienced field force, all of whom are highly experienced in undertaking customer satisfaction surveys for Housing Associations and Local Authorities. Interviewing took place between the 6th December 2013 to the 8thJanuary 2014.
3.5Survey Analysis and Reporting
Survey data has been analysed and reported on in a number of ways. Data has been analysed by key variables as agreed by the organisation. Where any particular trends or issues are found for any one key group, this is detailed in the survey report.
Please note that not all percentages sum to 100% due to rounding.
3.6Report Structure
This document details the key finding to emerge from the survey, addressing the key findings of the survey for BarrheadHousing Association.
CHAPTER 4.OVERALL SATISFACTION
CHAPTER 5.BECOMING A TENANT
CHAPTER 6.INFORMATION AND PARTICIPATION
CHAPTER 7.CONTACT WITH THE LANDLORD
CHAPTER 8.PERCEPTIONS OF THE LANDLORD AND ITS SERVICES
CHAPTER 9.REPAIRS SERVICE
CHAPTER 10.RENT, INCOME AND WELFARE BENEFITS
CHAPTER 11.THE NEIGHBOURHOOD
CHAPTER 12.COMPLAINTS
CHAPTER 13.YOU AND YOUR HOUSEHOLD
CHAPTER 14.RESIDENT OWNERS
CHAPTER 15.NON-RESIDENT OWNERS
CHAPTER 16.CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONNAIRE
APPENDIX 2: TECHNICAL REPORT SUMMARY
4.OVERALL SATISFACTION
4.1Satisfaction with the overall service provided by Barrhead (Q1)
The survey opened by asking tenants how satisfied or dissatisfied they were with the overall service provided by their landlord. More than 9 in 10 tenants (95%) said they were very or fairly satisfied with the overall service the Association provides compared to 3% who were very or fairly dissatisfied and2% who were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied. This question was not asked in the 2011 survey, however in 2011, 97% of participants were satisfied with the quality of services provided by Barrhead.
5.BECOMING A TENANT
5.1Standard of the home when moving in (Q2-Q4)
Only 6% of respondents had moved into their home within the last year, amounting to 22 individuals. These tenants were asked to rate how satisfied or dissatisfied they were with the standard of their home. More than 8 in 10 new tenants (82%) said they were very or fairly satisfied with the standard of the home compared to 3% who were dissatisfied. Of the four tenants who were dissatisfied, 3 lived in flats and 1 in a terraced property. Two of the four tenants livened in Rankin Way and two lived in Barrhead Centre.
The four tenants who were fairly dissatisfied with the standard of their home when they moved in were asked to explain why they felt this way. The comments provided to this question are listed below:
Needed a lot of work to get it up to living standards.
The walls were a mess, needed plastered. Kitchen boiler was not boxed in and all pipes are visible.
No gas meter to connect gas to.
Boiler broken, no heating and leak in kitchen. Many problems.
6.INFORMATION AND PARTICIPATION
6.1Keeping tenants informed (Q5/6)
Almost all tenants were of the opinion that their landlord was very or fairly good at keeping them informed about their services and decisions (99%). The remaining 1% of tenants were of the opinion that the Association was neither good nor poor in this respect.
Barrhead has undertaken tenant satisfaction surveys previously in 2001, 2004, 2007 and 2011. Satisfaction has not changed significantly since the results from the previous survey undertaken in 2011 where the Association achieved 100% satisfaction.
6.2Use of the internet/ mobile apps and the Association’s website (Q7-Q12)
Over half of survey participants (51%) said they used the internet or mobile apps. In 2011, 29% said they had home internet access. Analysis by age reveals that as age increases, the proportion of survey participants who used the internet or mobile apps decreases, ranging from 84% for those aged 16 to 34 to 5% for participants aged 65 and over.
The majority of participants who used the internet accessed it through a home computer (97%) and 28% accessed the internet via a smartphone.
Just over three quarters of survey participants who used the internet or mobile apps (78%) said they used social media such as Facebook or Twitter. Analysis by age reveals that social media is used most by the younger age group (96% of respondents aged 18 to 34).
Only 16% of respondents who used the internet or mobile apps said they had visited the Association’s website, amounting to 28 individuals. All respondents who had visited the Association’s website were of the opinion that it was easy to navigate, contains useful information and were happy with the overall design and layout.