Angus Council has suffered a slump in how satisfied tenants are with their local authority home.
There has been a 14% drop in the number who think their council house is good value for money.
Housing chiefs have been slated in a satisfaction survey which revealed little over 40% of tenants believe Angus is a listening council.
The dramatic figures are included in a 2024-25 housing improvement plan which councillors will be asked to sign off on Tuesday.
And the area’s housing spokesperson admits there is work to be done.
Montrose SNP councillor Kenny Braes said: “We are committed to providing an increased focus on performance and improvement across the housing service.
“The housing service improvement plan marks an important step in our approach to doing things differently.”
What does the survey reveal?
The committee report details tenant satisfaction survey statistics from 2020/21 to 2023/24.
Several elements give housing bosses cause for concern.
Overall satisfaction is down from 88% to 71.2%.
The number of tenants satisfied with opportunities given to them to participate in the decision-making processes has plummeted from 93% to 41%.
Other worrying declines include:
- Percentage of tenants satisfied with the quality of their home – 86% to 74.7%
- Percentage of tenants who consider council rents good value for money – 86% to 72.4%
Angus had been performing above the Scottish average in all of those key areas up to 2022/23.
Void properties rent loss lower than than feared
But there are positives in the report, including a drop in the amount of rent lost from empty properties.
The council has identified inaccuracies in data supplied to the Scottish Housing Regulator on void rent loss.
It means the figures for the past few years have been less than reported.
However, the number of empty Angus Council houses – more than 300 – was recently flagged as a major concern.
It was raised during a debate calling for a housing emergency to be declared in Angus.
The council’s SNP administration voted down the motion brought by Brechin Independent Jill Scott.
One councillor said he had been blocked from being given “basic” information on the number of empty homes.
Council chief executive Kathryn Lindsay gave Forfar Conservative Ross Greig an assurance she would take up the matter.
Poor tenant response
The figures are also likely to spark discussion around how the council can get better engagement with its tenants.
Each year it consults with all of them on planned rent rises.
But just 232 responded to the latest questionnaire – a tiny 3% of the total tenant population.
A 6.7% rise in this year’s budget took Angus rents through the £80-per-week barrier for the first time.
Next steps
If the improvement plan gets the green light, housing delivery groups will be set up to manage performance.
Extra staff will focus on:
- Customer excellence
- Housing quality and place
- Prevention and homelessness.
Housing spokesperson Mr Braes said: “We recognise our housing service needs to be improved so it meets our aims of delivering high-quality and customer focussed services to all our tenants.
“Angus has faced some unprecedented challenges over recent times, with the severe flooding from Storm Babet in October 2023 impacting a significant number of households, homes, and infrastructure.
“We will now begin to drive forward the changes that have been identified and focus on improving our housing service.
“I hope we can start to make a difference to the people living in Angus Council properties and ensure they have somewhere they are proud to call home.”
Conversation