Dundee City Council given thumbs up from tenants

Kevin Cordell

Council house tenants in Dundee have given their landlords the thumbs-up in a recent survey in a performance bettering the Scottish average.

Tenants took part and rated Dundee City Council’s performance better than the Scottish average in seven categories including tenant satisfaction with the overall service, housing quality and information and value for money.

Kevin Cordell, convener of Dundee City council’s neighbourhood services committee, said: “It is essential that we know exactly how our tenants feel about the service they get, and the quality of the homes they live in so that we can ensure that we meet their expectations.

“When 90% of people we asked tell us that they are either very or fairly satisfied with the service they get it is an overwhelming thumbs-up.

“But that doesn’t mean we are in any way complacent. There is still room for us to improve and that will be the focus going forward.”

A total of 500 tenants from across the city were interviewed in their homes by independent market research company Knowledge Partnership.

They were asked to rate their satisfaction overall; with management of their neighbourhood, repairs and housing quality.

As well as asking tenants about their home and services such as repairs, the survey also explored how effective the council’s information and involvement programmes are and whether the services provided offer value for money.

Since the first survey of its kind in 2011 by post, tenants are now interviewed face to face in their own homes, satisfaction has increased in every category.

Cllr Cordell added: “The improvements seen in satisfaction, which have fluctuated in some areas in the past eight years, are all moving in the right direction and demonstrate that we are changing things to ensure our tenants feel happier about the services they receive.”

Jim Cochrane, chair of Dundee Federation of Tenants’ Associations, said: “We are delighted to endorse the results of the recent Tenant Satisfaction Survey and welcome the sustained positive trend in key areas of service provision.

“This demonstrates the council’s commitment to striving for excellence, and we look forward to continuing working in partnership with them, not just to maintain the positive trend, but confident of continued improvement in the future.”

Overall satisfaction with services was rated at 90%, seven points above the Scottish average and one above the 2015 result, while satisfaction with housing quality was up two to 91%.

Satisfaction with standard of home on moving in was at 93% up five on the previous survey and also five points above the Scottish council average.

Also above the Scottish average was tenants’ view of their rent as good value for money. A total of 87% agreed that it is very or fairly good, compared with 81% across the country and 67% seven years ago.

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