Nearly 80 per cent of Rotherham council tenants happy with housing service but complaints satisfaction drops to one in three
Almost 80 per cent of council tenants in Rotherham say they are satisfied with the housing service they receive, new figures reveal, with repairs performance hitting some of the strongest results seen in recent years.
A tenant satisfaction report, heard by Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council’s cabinet on January 19, shows 77.6 per cent of tenants are currently satisfied overall, while nearly 99 per cent of repairs are being completed on time.
However, the figures also highlight persistent pressure points, with satisfaction around complaints handling falling to just 33.5 per cent, and concerns growing over the council’s response to anti-social behaviour.
Repairs remain one of the strongest-performing areas of the council’s housing service.
According to the report, 78.9 per cent of tenants who had a repair carried out in the last year said they were satisfied with the overall service, up nearly five percent compared with two years ago.
Satisfaction with the time taken to complete repairs rose even further to 79.5 per cent, representing a 7.4 percentage point improvement since 2023/24.
Performance data shows that 98.9 per cent of non-emergency repairs were completed within target timescales, and 98.4 per cent of emergency repairs were completed on time
Both figures sit well above national averages.
Despite the generally positive picture, the report highlights ongoing challenges in how the council handles complaints.
Only 33.5 per cent of tenants who made a complaint said they were satisfied with how it was dealt with, a further decline on last year and one of the weakest scores in the dataset.
Satisfaction with the council’s handling of anti-social behaviour (ASB) has also fallen to 61.2 per cent, down from 64.9 per cent two years ago. While this remains above the national median, it places Rotherham just outside the upper quartile when compared with other local authorities.
In response, the council says targeted action is already under way, including a new tenant-led complaints panel, a review of how tenancy and ASB cases are managed, and additional training for housing staff on ASB powers.
During the meeting, councillor Linda Beresford, cabinet member for housing, said: “These are really encouraging results, but there are some areas that we do need to work on, such as complaint handling and anti social behavior.”