Last updated: 25 February 2025

Next review: 25 February 2026

Key roles

Our Housing service is managed by the Housing Senior Leadership Team. 

Key roles in regards to performance against the consumer standards are:

  • Jane Martin, Corporate Director of Housing, is responsible for compliance with the Housing Consumer Standards.
  • Mark Crane, Director of Housing Assets and Delivery, is responsible for Housing Health and Safety compliance.

Our Tenant Satisfaction Measures

The Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 introduced the requirement for us to collect and report annually to the Regulator of Social Housing against 22 Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs), under the new Transparency, Influence and Accountability consumer standard. This applies to our role as a social landlord, covering tenancy and asset management responsibilities for the homes we own and manage. Full details of the four consumer standards can be found on the Government website. The aim is to:       

  • Ensure our tenants can hold us to account for the quality of service they receive. 
  • Ensure greater transparency by providing our tenants with clear accessible information about our performance.
  • Inform the Regulator about how we are complying with the new consumer standards.

We began recording TSM information on 1 April 2023. Our results for business year 2023/24 have been submitted to the Regulator of Social Housing and are listed below. Of the 22 measures:

  • 12 are collected through tenant perception surveys carried out by Kwest Research, an independent research organisation.
  • 10 are collected by the council from our management systems.

In May 2023, we appointed Housing Quality Network (HQN), industry experts, to support us in completing a self-assessment against the new consumer standards. As a result, we developed a Regulation Action Plan to help deliver service improvements.

The Regulator of Social Housing has published the national table of results, the table below demonstrates how we compare against our peers.  

There are several different ways surveys can be completed, for example SMS, postal, and face-to-face. We’ve compared our tenant perception survey results to those of other London landlords, including Housing Associations, who used a similar way to us of gathering feedback, mainly telephone surveys. There were 37 landlords in this group.   

For the 10-management system TSM’s we collect the data directly and compare ourselves to all London social landlords, including Housing Associations, for these measures. There were 52 landlords in this group.

Our results for 2023/24

TSM referenceDescription Our scoreHow we compare Commentary

Overall satisfaction TSM

TP01Proportion of respondents who report that they are satisfied with the overall service from their landlord.61%MedianIn January 2023 we started our Housing Transformation Programme, which has delivered significant service improvements so far. Service improvement work is taking place across repairs, tenancy management and complaints and we expect our satisfaction results to improve as a result. 

Performance against the building safety TSMs

BS01Proportion of homes for which all required gas safety checks have been carried out.100%UpperFully compliant.
BS02Proportion of homes for which all required fire risk assessments have been carried out.100%UpperFully compliant. 
BS03Proportion of homes for which all required asbestos management surveys or re-inspections have been carried out.100%UpperFully compliant.  
BS04Proportion of homes for which all required legionella risk assessments have been carried out.97%MedianOur performance was slightly off target as we adjusted to this new requirement. By May 2024, our completion rate for legionella risk assessments was 100%.
BS05Proportion of homes for which all required communal passenger lift safety checks have been carried out.85%LowerPerformance declined during a change of contractor. A recovery plan is in place to return to 100% compliance under the new contractor. As of November 2024, we are now 100% compliant.

Performance against repairs TSMs

TP02Proportion of respondents who have received a repair in the last 12 months who report that they are satisfied with the overall repairs service.62%Median

We are currently reviewing and updating our repairs policy and comprehensive improvement plans are in place. 

You can Report a repair online.

TP03Proportion of respondents who have received a repair in the last 12 months who report that they are satisfied with the time taken to complete their most recent repair.63%MedianWe are working closely with our repairs contractor to better coordinate works ensuring our service is efficient and timely to improve satisfaction. 
TP04Proportion of respondents who report that they are satisfied that their home is well maintained.62%MedianWe have introduced a new post inspection process, to assess the quality of repairs carried out by our repair's contractor, as part of our quality assurance checks.
TP05Proportion of respondents who report that they are satisfied that their home is safe.70%Median

We want to make sure all residents feel safe in their homes. We continue to review our housing stock information, ensuring it’s up to date and relevant safety checks are in place for all our properties.

 

If you have any questions regarding the safety of your home, please email us at; buildingsafety@walthamforest.gov.uk.  

Read more about our building safety improvement programme.

TP06Proportion of respondents who report that they are satisfied that their landlord listens to tenant views and acts upon them.51%Median

Our Housing Engagement and Insight team has developed a Resident Involvement Strategy through consultation with residents. The strategy sets clear priorities that will support the delivery of excellent resident involvement. For each of these five priority areas, the strategy sets out clear and measurable actions that will be undertaken to deliver and achieve these.

To find out more and how to get involved please visit our Resident Involvement webpage.

TP07Proportion of respondents who report that they are satisfied that their landlord keeps them informed about things that matter to them.72%Upper

We are pleased that the majority of our residents report they are satisfied with how we keep them informed. Our Resident News magazine goes out to all council tenants and leaseholders across the borough.

View past and current issues of our Resident News magazine

TP08Proportion of respondents who report that they agree their landlord treats them fairly and with respect.67%MedianWe are concerned that a significant minority of our tenants do not feel they are treated with fairness and respect. We are speaking to residents and drawing on other data sources to understand the issues behind this. Training to improve customer service has been delivered to both housing officers and our contractors this year.
RP01Proportion of homes that do not meet the Decent Homes Standard 17%LowerWe are reviewing our capital investment plans for the next three years to optimise our performance against the Decent Homes Standard.
RP02(1)Proportion of non-emergency responsive repairs completed within the landlord’s target timescale.74%Median

We worked closely with our repair and maintenance contractor, Morgan Sindall Property Services (MSPS), to clear a historic repairs backlog of nearly 1,500 cases that arose during the COVID-19 pandemic. Clearing this backlog means that MSPS can now attend new jobs more promptly.

 

We also proactively review our performance. When repairs are not completed in time, we identify the root cause of the issue to prevent it happening again.  

RP02(2)Proportion of emergency responsive repairs completed within the landlord’s target timescale.96%Median

We aim to respond to ‘critical’ emergency repairs within 4 hours and ‘essential’ emergency repairs within 24 hours.

Learn more about reporting a repair.

Performance against Complaints TSMs

TP09Proportion of respondents who report making a complaint in the last 12 months who are satisfied with their landlord’s approach to complaints handling.21%Lower

We continue to focus on resolving Stage 1 complaints, where failures have been identified. In March 2023, we implemented a new complaints process to meet the Housing Ombudsman’s 10-day response time for Stage 1 complaints. We have introduced a new Housing complaints policy to deliver better outcomes for residents and to meet the Housing Ombudsman’s complaint handling code.

 

We are training our teams to be transparent and empathetic in how they respond to complaints, recognising fault where it occurs, acting swiftly to address issues and provide appropriate compensation.

CH01(1)Number of Stage 1 complaints made by tenants in the relevant stock type during the reporting year per 1,000 homes42UpperOnce this data becomes available form the Regulator of Social Housing, we will be benchmarking our performance against other social landlords.
CH02(1)Proportion of Stage 1 responded to within the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code timescales85%Median

Our Stage 1 complaints performance has significantly improved this year to 85% from 8% last year. 

 

A dedicated complaints and enquiries team has been established to improve the timeliness and quality of our complaint responses.

 

We are focussing on resolving complaints at Stage 1. We are taking a more proactive and empathetic approach at the earliest possible stage of service failure.

CH01(2)Number of Stage 2 complaints made by tenants in the relevant stock type during the reporting year per 1,000 homes6UpperNo comment. 
CH02(2)Proportion of Stage 2 complaints responded to within the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code timescales46%MedianWe have implemented a new corporate complaints improvement plan to improve how we handle and manage Stage 2 complaints. 

Performance against neighbourhood management TSMs

TP10Proportion of respondents with communal areas who report that they are satisfied that their landlord keeps communal areas clean and well maintained.63%MedianLast autumn we launched our new service standards for our communal areas which outlines the team’s responsibilities. Read our service standards. 
TP11Proportion of respondents who report that they are satisfied that their landlord makes a positive contribution to the neighbourhood.67%MedianOver the last four years we have invested in resident-led estate improvements to communal areas alongside waste area upgrades.
TP12Proportion of respondents who report that they are satisfied with their landlord’s approach to handling anti-social behaviour61%Upper

We have completed staff training to ensure anti-social behaviour (ASB) cases are properly recorded and tracked. 

 

Report anti-social behaviour.

NM01 (1)Number of anti-social behaviour cases opened per 1,000 homes.10.3Upper
NM01 (2)Number of anti-social behaviour cases that involve hate incidents opened per 1,000 homes.0Upper

How we collected our data

We collected our TSMs data through a combination of two methods:

  • Perception data - In April 2023 we appointed Kwest Research, an expert in the sector, to undertake quarterly telephone surveys with our tenants on our behalf. Tenants were selected to ensure a representative sample was achieved of our tenant population. Tenants were not offered any monetary incentive for completing the survey.
  • Management data - We gathered information from our management systems and records.

The survey sample size

  • Data for our perception survey was collected directly from 969 randomly selected tenants to ensure a representative sample of the organisation’s 9,768 households living in Low-Cost Rental Accommodation. 

When our survey took place 

The quarterly surveys started on 1 April 2023 and ended on 31 March 2024. 

When we submitted our TSM data

We submitted our TSMs information to the Regulator of Social Housing on 30 June 2024. 

Our survey and methodology  

View a full copy of our survey. You can also download detailed information on our survey methodology.

Communal repairs performance

From October 2024 to December 2024, 1,094 non-emergency communal repairs were raised with Morgan Sindall Property Services (MSPS), and 810 of these communal repairs were completed, of which 590 (73%) were completed within the target time. During the same period, 204 emergency communal repair cases were raised, of which 178 were completed and 161 (90%) were completed within the target time. 

Value for money

Our 2025/26 budget was agreed by the Council’s Cabinet in February 2025. 

The table below illustrates how each £1 of your rent and service charge collected will be spent.

Repairs and improvements44p
Investment to improve existing homes and build new homes (interest payments)18p
Staff costs12p
Office, insurance and other running costs13p
Services e.g. gardening caretaking CCTV and lighting11p
Rent and service charges unpaid by residents1p
Contribution to reserves1p