Council ‘determined’ to provide good quality housing services and improve housing satisfaction levels for tenants

Stoke-on-Trent City Council continues to work hard to increase satisfaction levels among its tenants, following a report which shows more work needs to be done.

More than 80 per cent (83.11%) of council tenants who took part in a survey said they were satisfied with the city council as a landlord – putting the authority in the top 25 per cent of registered social landlords in England.

But the repairs service, how complaints are handled and anti-social behaviour all feature as areas where the council needs to improve to provide a better service for tenants.

The city council’s cabinet will discuss the results as part of a report, during the cabinet meeting on September 10, on how the authority is meeting the new Social Housing Regulation Act 2023. 

The Act came into force following the Grenfell Tower tragedy and the Hackitt Review, which looked into building and fire safety.

The Act also sets out new consumer standards that all social landlords must now adhere to, including new measures around tenant satisfaction. 

Councillor Chris Robinson, cabinet member for housing and planning, said: “We are committed to ensuring all of our residents can live in safe, warm and well-maintained homes, and we are determined to improve our services by listening to our tenants and making those changes.

“We have already made a number of improvements including introducing a new repairs line which is helping to improve call waiting times. We have revised our corporate Complaints, Comments and Compliments Policy, consulted on a new Anti-Social Behaviour Policy, undertaken a skills audit among staff and provided training to our employees around how to handle complaints.

“We have also made some great progress on our commitment to crackdown on damp, mould and condensation in council-owned homes. We recognise, however, that more needs to be done. We will continue to engage with tenants and make those positive changes to ensure all our residents have a decent place to call home.”