Tenants positive about housing services

The latest Tenant Satisfaction Survey carried out by Perth & Kinross Council has shown very positive results.

The survey was carried out over four weeks in September and October 2006, and consisted of 800 face-to-face interviews with tenants.

The survey showed that 77% of tenants have lived in their homes for at least five years, and 89% are satisfied or fairly satisfied with their house. This is an increase of 5% since the last survey was undertaken in 2001.

Council communication with tenants also got the thumbs-up from tenants. There was an 8% increase in satisfaction levels with the range of information provided to tenants by the Council. Ninety-one per cent of tenants who had phoned the Council to speak about their house or tenancy said they got through to the right person first time, and 88% got all the information they needed.

The survey found that repairs is the most important service to tenants, with 65% of tenants using the service in the last year. Tenants were generally satisfied about the time taken to carry out repairs, with satisfaction levels over 90%.

People were also happy with our home improvements service. Internal improvements rated an 89% satisfaction level, while external works rated 84%. Ninety-three per cent of tenants were satisfied with the behaviour of our workmen.

Dissatisfaction with the complaints procedure was down from 75% in 2001 to 33% in 2006, reflecting the amount of positive work that had been done to improve in this area.

The highest rating of dissatisfaction is kitchens (31%) and bathrooms (24%). However, this is being addressed by the kitchen and bathroom replacement programmes currently being undertaken by the Council.

Housing and Health Convener, Councillor Peter Barrett, said: “We are working hard to ensure that our services are as good as they can be for our tenants. These results are very encouraging and show that we are continuing to make improvements.

“However, we will not become complacent and will continue to look for ways to make our services better for our customers. Our commitment to replacing bathrooms and kitchens in all our houses shows our determination to invest in order to improve the lives of tenants.”