On the 11th April, our Managing Director, Ian MacGregor, was featured in Inside Housing, the UK’s leading trade publication for the social, supported and affordable housing sector.
It was an important piece, highlighting the importance and challenges of gathering resident feedback in a sector where tenants often face complex needs such as addiction, trauma, or mental health issues. Unlike general social housing, feedback in supported housing requires nuanced, trauma-informed, and trust-based approaches to be effective.
Ian noted that since the introduction of Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs) in April 2023, all social landlords must collect annual feedback. However, in supported housing, this feedback also serves to assess the quality of specialist support services and detect early signs of crisis. Areas which are vital to the well-being of residents.
However, many barriers exist. Tenants may distrust authorities, struggle with literacy, or disengage due to personal hardship and standard approaches to surveys often fall short.
Despite these challenges, Sustain has achieved notable success, securing a 30% tenant response rate, an impressive result in a sector where engagement is typically low.
This success stems from our robust approach, which combines trusted staff, flexible methods, and trauma-informed engagement strategies — all of which have contributed to high response rates and strong satisfaction scores.
To learn why feedback is more than just a compliance exercise and how it’s key to delivering safe, respectful, and effective support for vulnerable tenants, read the full piece, here.
