The government’s STATUS surveys for 2008 were published this week, rating councils for tenant satisfaction with landlords, customer services, repairs and maintenance and quality of neighbourhoods. STATUS are Standardised Tenant Satisfaction Surveys.
 
Wandsworth rated below average for satisfaction with overall landlord service, scoring 70% alongside a national average of  75%. It also rated just below the national averages for ease of getting hold of the right member of staff to deal with a query, and helpfulness of staff.
 
Satisfaction with repairs and maintenance services similarly fell below national averages, while satisfaction with landlords taking tenant views into account was just under average.
 
However Wandsworth rated alongside the national average for landlords keeping tenants informed of matters which may affect them. Satisfaction with property quality and the neighbourhood were average for a London borough, rating neither alongside the best or the worst.
 
The STATUS survey points out that London boroughs have their own specific issues:
“The main outlier here is London, where the satisfaction rate is markedly lower than the national norm. This tendency is in line with previous evidence. It may be connected, in part, with the atypical housing stock and demographic profiles of council housing in London.
 
“The London factor is also apparent… where the highest satisfaction ratings are recorded by the largely non-urban district councils.”
 
For more information go to www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/statistics/tenantsatisfaction2008

June 30, 2010