The number of council tenants satisfied with the quality of their home has continued to fall since the pandemic, according to recently released figures.
West Dunbartonshire Council’s housing chief Peter Barry said he wouldn’t shy away from the fact that the newly released tenants satisfaction survey “is not a good read” - but added that the findings were “unsurprising.”
Just 73 percent of the 600 residents interviewed by telephone said they were satisfied with the quality of their home - down from 86 percent in 2017.
The survey was carried out in November last year to identify areas for improvement, and revealed that 68 percent of tenants are satisfied with the service overall with 28 percent dissatisfied.
Just 61 percent of tenants said they felt their rent represented good value for money, down from 77 percent in 2019, whilst 68 percent were satisfied with the way repairs and maintenance were dealt with - down from a peak of 81 percent in 2017.
Feedback also identified five main areas for improvement, including being able to heat the home, housing quality, repair service, management of the neighbourhood and rent value for money.
Speaking about the report, WDC’s chief officer for housing and employability, Peter Barry said: “I won’t shy away from the fact that this is not a good read. It is very disappointing to see though I have to say not surprising.
“Not all of it, but a significant amount is influenced by people’s experience of the pandemic when we could not get into properties as quickly as we would have liked. We took great pride in some of the figures we had prior to the pandemic. They’ve all taken a really big hit.
“We did the survey in November and I am very keen that we get to committee not just with the problem but with a plan on how we are going to deal with it.”
Labour deputy leader, Councillor Michelle McGinty, said that the figures hadn’t given her reason for concern - but added that she hoped to see progress in the next survey.
The Leven member said: “I don’t think anyone could expect anything different coming out of the pandemic, but it’s about improvement and about having plans to improve the service.
“I don’t think it is surprising. We all knew as we came out of the pandemic that there was a backlog of repairs.
“We were all very aware that there were issues that needed to be addressed. I know you are trying to change that and are working very hard to make sure there are improvements.
“We need to give changes, like the work we’re doing to cut down on dampness in homes, a chance. I’m not very concerned at the moment, if there is no improvement by next year then it’s something we’ll have to look at.”
The results of the survey will be reported to the Scottish Housing Regulator as part of the 2022/23 Scottish Social Housing Charter requirements. A five percent rent rise was agreed for council tenants earlier this year, with Labour saying that they are set to invest £50million, with WDC’s a focus on driving out damp and mould problems and finding more accommodation for larger families.
Administration to invest in housing
West Dunbartonshire Council’s home buyback scheme will be scaled up as part of £10million investment.
The programme will aim to acquire a minimum of 60 former council homes or homes of a specific type and size every year over the next five years.
In order to meet identified local need, the programme will primarily focus on bringing larger family homes into the housing stock.
The council’s current buyback policy will also be refreshed to ensure opportunities to increase the number of properties available are maximised.
It comes after an additional £50m investment in housing was approved by elected members at a council meeting in March, with £10m of that set aside to enhance the buyback scheme.
Councillor Gurpreet Singh Johal, convener of housing and communities, said: “We have listened to tenants’ views on the availability of properties in our housing stock.
“We want to do all we can to provide new housing that is the right type and size for the people in our communities and this investment, and the scaling up the buyback scheme, will take this even further.
“Sometimes our existing housing stock does not have the size of house our tenants require, for example, large family homes, and this investment will mean we can focus on ensuring we have more of these homes available.”
Councillor Hazel Sorrell, vice-convener, added: “We know from feedback from tenants that demand for large family homes is very high. The existing buyback scheme has been a success, with 115 homes acquired since it was introduced in 2015, and refreshing the policy will support us to make that number even higher to ensure we have the stock our communities require.”
