CITY council tenants’ satisfaction with their homes has plummeted over the past year.

Questionnaires sent out to tenants in the 7,724 council-owned houses revealed satisfaction fell across eight key areas such as value for money and maintenance, compared to the same survey in 2013. But at a meeting of the council’s housing panel on Thursday, councillors questioned the methodology of the survey and its results.

Survey results showed residents of Blackbird Leys, Littlemore, Headington and Rose Hill and Iffley were most likely to feel their estate had declined.

Rose Hill resident Donald Young has lived on the estate since 1967 and said he was disappointed with the council’s response to the survey.

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He said: “They do not listen, they never listen to what people say. I think people come up with perfectly good complaints – they put complaints in and nothing is done.

“Some of the upkeep of housing is bad as well and there is no excuse for that.
“They are quite good on home repairs though.
The city council is currently carrying out its Great Estates programme, which will see £1.5m spent on improving the city’s estates until 2018, but Mr Young said not all were benefitting from the scheme.
He added: “I think the council’s Great Estates programme means Rose Hill gets left out.
“The council focuses too much on these big programmes rather than on dealing with issues in our estates.”
But some residents said they were happy with the council’s services.
Atkyns Court, Wood Farm, resident Les Goodwin said: “We have had new lights put in and we have had the community areas painted.
“This last four or five weeks they have been sorting different things.
“There is no problem at all here.
“Eighteen months ago I would have said the council did not care about us at all but now it is good.”
At Thursday’s meeting, the council’s lead member for housing and estate regeneration Scott Seamons said the results showed the council has a problem with communicating effectively with residents.
He said: “This fits in with the low results we have seen in other areas in terms of how well we listen to people and respond to what they are saying.”
The survey received 2,500 replies from the 7,724 homes in the city’s housing stock – 32 per cent of properties.
Councillors said they might consider abandoning the survey when the contract for it runs out in 2016, because the written questionnaires might give skewed results.
Blackbird Leys councillor Linda Smith said: “The sample size seems so small, for example only 40 people were consulted in Blackbird Leys.
“One family with a particular gripe or issue could cause significant results.
“What I’m worried about is that council officers are spending a lot more time sat in the office making graphs and tables and are not getting out there finding out what people think.”
Mrs Smith said she believed conditions in her ward were improving despite the survey results.
She said: “Some of the houses are of a poor quality such as the maisonettes on Blackbird Leys Road, but the council is aware of that and they will be among the first homes to be renovated.”
Panel chairman Sam Hollick concluded the meeting saying the council would have to look at a more “proactive and interactive” method when it next commissions a housing survey, but must seek feedback from residents to see how satisfaction can be improved.
The survey will be conducted in the same way using questionnaires in 2015.
Blackbird Leys resident Stuart Craft said he was not surprised with councillors’ response to the survey.
The 49-year-old coach driver said: “It is easy for them to dismiss the survey, they do not live in social housing.
“There are problems with all of the houses and most come from the cheap builds. Soundproofing is one of the big things.
“It does not take a lot of volume on your neighbour’s TV to cause a problem and the council does not want to know.
“The workmen we get are good people but they are dealing with old equipment.
“Our boiler is old and decrepit so it has to be repaired more regularly, and the same goes for the windows.”

THE FINDINGS

Satisfaction with service provided by social housing provider

  • 2013: 88 per cent
  • 2014: 84 per cent

Satisfaction with overall quality of home

  • 2013: 83 per cent
  • 2014: 80 per cent

Satisfaction with neighbourhood as a place to live

  • 2013: 83 per cent
  • 2014: 80 per cent

Satisfaction that rent provides value for money

  • 2013: 76 per cent
  • 2014: 74 per cent

Satisfaction that service charges provide value for money

  • 2013: 72 per cent
  • 2014: 68 per cent

Satisfaction with repairs and maintenance

  • 2013: 87 per cent
  • 2014: 83 per cent

Satisfaction with landlord over how they listen to views and act upon them

  • 2013: 64 per cent
  • 2014: 63 per cent

Satisfaction at landlord at keeping them informed about things that might affect them as a resident

  • 2013: 77 per cent
  • 2014: 77 per cent

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