Earlier this year, new Housing Regulatory Standards came in called Tenant Satisfaction Measures. They’re designed to check how well landlords are doing at keeping properties in good shape and to help you hold us to account.
These measures are part of a big shake-up of social housing regulations with a more tenant-focused system.
We’re managing homes on behalf of West Northamptonshire Council, who are the registered social housing landlord, and it’s a regulatory requirement to collect and report on these measures. We’ll do this through quarterly surveys, starting this October, which will ask you questions around seven main themes:
- Overall satisfaction with the service we’ve provided
- Keeping properties in good repair
- Maintaining building safety
- Safety checks
- Effective handling of complaints
- Respectful and helpful engagement with tenants
- Responsible neighbourhood management
We’ve commissioned Acuity to carry out these surveys on our behalf. Acuity have been providing consultancy services to the social housing sector for over 25 years.
They’ll contact a random sample of residents each quarter to ask what you think about your home and the services we provide. The responses received will help us highlight any areas for improvement. The survey is strictly confidential and anonymous, and we’ll only see overall results.
If you’re contacted to take part, it’ll usually be by phone between 9am to 8pm Monday to Friday and between 10am and 6pm on a Saturday. No calls are made on a Sunday. The phone will ring for a minimum of 25 seconds or until a voicemail kicks in. This ensures residents living with mobility issues are given sufficient time to get to the phone.
You’ll find more details in the FAQs below.
FAQS
What survey?
Northamptonshire Partnership Homes (NPH) has commissioned Acuity, a market research company who specialise in the social housing sector, to carry out a series of telephone surveys with their residents. The survey is a general satisfaction survey (perception survey) asking residents what they think about their home and the services provided by NPH. The questions are based on the new Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs) introduced by the Regulator of Social Housing from April this year.
Who are Acuity?
Acuity Research & Practice (Acuity) provide resident satisfaction surveys and benchmarking services; helping housing providers to improve services and engage with their residents. They do this via an understanding of satisfaction, performance and profiling data. They have been providing consultancy services to the social housing sector for over 25 years.
Who will be contacted?
Acuity will be contacting our residents by telephone with the aim of interviewing 500 tenants each quarter this year and 250 tenants each quarter in 2024/25. The surveys will start in October 2023 and should take approximately 8 minutes to complete.
What number to look out for?
If you receive a call from Acuity the number displayed will be 01273 093 939, which is a Brighton Area code.
When will they call our residents?
Acuity only make calls between the hours of 9:00am and 20:00pm Monday to Friday and between the hours of 10.00am and 18:00pm on Saturday. Interviewers allow the telephone to ring for a minimum of 25 seconds, or until a voicemail system kicks in, to ensure customers with mobility issues are given sufficient time to get to the phone.
What telephone number is displayed?
If a resident receives a call from Acuity the number displayed is 01273 093 939, which is a Brighton Area code. If the resident sees a missed call from this number and calls back, they will hear a recorded message informing them that someone from Acuity tried to call them to complete a survey for their landlord.
Is the survey confidential and anonymous?
The survey is strictly confidential and if a resident requests, the results can be given back to NPH without their name attached.
Is the survey in line with data protection and what about quality standards?
All the calls are recorded for training and quality purposes. Acuity is a company partner member of the Market Research Society and is registered with the Information Commissionaires Office, and in line with the Data Protection Act is not permitted to release any details to any other organisation. Under the Data Protection Act Acuity is not permitted to release any information that would allow an individual to be identified without their prior active consent to do so. Acuity also holds ISO20252:2019, which is the quality standard for market research companies.
Who should I contact at Northampton Partnership Homes or Acuity if I have a query that is not addressed here?
If you have any queries about any of the survey, please contact NPH (0300 330 7003 or LetUsKnow.NPH@nph.org.uk) or Acuity (01273 287 114 or acuity@arap.co.uk).
Want to know more about Acuity?
Acuity Research & Practice Limited
www.arap.co.uk
UK Tel: 01273 287 114
Registered in England - Company number: 3503391
All research projects are carried out in conformity with ISO20252:2019 and the MRS Code of Conduct.