Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs)

The Government’s 'Charter for Social Housing Residents: Social Housing White Paper' set out what every social housing tenant should be able to expect from their landlord. This included the introduction of Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs) which is a core set of performance measures that all social housing landlords must collect and report on. The Social Housing (Regulation) Act received Royal Assent in July 2023 and aims to deliver the reforms set out in the white paper.

The Regulator of Social Housing introduced TSMs so tenants can see how their landlord is performing in comparison with others, making it easier for social housing tenants to hold their landlord to account in several key performance areas. The TSMs will also act as a source of information for the Regulator of Social Housing to help identify the areas where landlords might need to improve things for tenants.

The TSMs cover five areas:

• Keeping properties in good repair
• Maintaining building safety
• Effective complaints handling
• Respectful and helpful tenant engagement
• Responsible neighbourhood management

Social housing landlords are required to report on 22 TSMs each financial year (April to March) starting with the first year of data being collected between April 2023 and March 2024. The data has to be published by the end of June 2024.  

As we deliver services on behalf of Barnsley Council (your landlord), we collect and publish this information.

Of the TSMs, we collect 12 from an annual survey of tenants and 10 are measured by us directly from our management information including things like the number of complaints we have received, and the number of repairs completed in target timescales.

The Regulator of Social Housing set out what they need from all providers to make sure the data we report on is collected in the same way to allow for comparison. 

For each of the TSMs we align with the regulator's specific description and calculation method as documented in the regulator's Technical Requirements.

Our satisfaction survey is undertaken on our behalf by an independent specialist research company. It allows us to find out how our customers feel about the services we provide.

Each year, a representative, random sample of tenants will receive an invitation to take part in the survey either by post or online. The results help us to understand how we're performing and develop service improvement priorities. The survey has been updated to make sure that all TSM Tenant Survey Requirements are met. This covers things like the survey question wording, response options, and questionnaire flow.

You can see a copy of the latest survey here. We included some extra questions in the 2023 survey.

We generally invite a random sample of 3,000 tenants to complete the survey as this will give us enough responses to meet the regulatory requirements. 

We supply a full list of tenants to our specialist research consultant and they randomly select the sample. We have no involvement in selecting which tenant gets a survey. 

Nobody is excluded from the survey.

We use a mix of online and postal surveys.

We've assessed that the best method to run the survey and gather the TSMs is to use a mix of online and postal surveys. This is based on the previous good response rates from a wide range of tenants who have completed the annual satisfaction survey in the many years we have run it in this way.    

The postal and online method also offers better value and more opportunity for tenants completing the survey to offer their unbiased opinion. 

Yes – we weight the results so that they represent the profile of our tenants. Our consultant does this following the methodology allowed by the Regulator. 

For any tenants randomly selected to complete the survey:

We'll send large print versions to anyone who has told us they require large print.

We'll arrange suitable translation options for tenants who use Braille or who require other assistance with completing the survey. 

Where asked, we help tenants fill in the form either over the phone or by visiting them. We include a contact number in the letter.    

We've checked that the letter and survey is easy to understand by asking our Tenant Voice Panel’s opinion.

We include a language panel on the survey so that our tenants whose first language isn’t English can contact us to arrange translations.

We promote the survey on our website and by social media, and all our staff are aware when it has been sent and will offer support to any tenant requesting it.   

We incentivise the survey with a free prize draw of £100, £50, and 2x £25 in shopping vouchers.

As well as following the TSM guidelines, our independent consultant has strict quality assurance measures in place and, works to ISO 20252 standards, thereby guaranteeing the accuracy, consistency, and reliability of collected data.

In addition to this Barnsley Council may complete an audit assurance check from time to time. 

We publish the results online and in our annual report. We invite tenants to a range of events where we present the results and discuss with tenants any actions we need to take to address any emerging themes. 

We share results using social media and on posters in our community centres. 

We'll provide printed copy of results to any tenant by request. 

The council is your landlord and so they receive this information through our routine performance management arrangements and formally as a governance report to Cabinet. 

It's the council who have the responsibility to share this information with the regulator but they have delegated the task to Berneslai Homes. We follow the regulatory guidelines and upload the information in the required format direct to their secure portal. We also publish the results on our website. 

This feedback tells us whether our tenants are more or less satisfied with our services over time and how we compare to other similar landlords. 

We use this information to tells us where we need to do things better or differently and this feedback influences our improvement plans and priorities. 

No – we also run a range of transactional surveys throughout the year.  This includes but is not limited to:

• Tenants once we've completed a repair
• Residents after we've handled their complaint
• Residents after we've handled a report of ASB
• Residents after they've joined our housing register

You can find out more about these surveys and our results in this section of our website.