The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) has confirmed that small social landlords will not need to submit data on tenant satisfaction measures (TSMs).
This announcement follows findings from a voluntary pilot of 124 small social housing providers, including local authorities, almshouses, for-profit providers, supported housing specialists and other private registered providers.
The pilot aimed to “help the RSH understand small providers’ experience of collecting TSMs so far, and to assess the potential benefits and challenges of them submitting TSM data to RSH”.
Since 2023/24, registered providers which own 1,000 homes or more have been required to submit TSM data to the regulator annually. However, it wasn’t compulsory for landlords below that threshold.
The RSH concluded that it will continue with this current approach, wherein TSM submissions are voluntary for small social housing providers of fewer than 1,000 homes.
Feedback from the pilot confirmed the importance of small providers collecting TSMs, as the data is instrumental in providing landlords and tenants with insight into service performance and can help drive operational improvements.
Therefore, small social providers still need to collect TSMs and publish the results.
However, the study clearly showed that there was then no need to submit this TSM data to the RSH. These reasons are summarised below:
- Lower comparability and risk of misleading comparisons
- Regulatory burden and resource constraints
- Resource implications for the regulator itself
- Limited regulatory benefit
- Conflicts with the regulator’s principles of proportionality, risk-based regulation and minimising interference.
You can read the full report from the RSH here.
Commenting on the findings, Will Perry, Director of Strategy, Regulator of Social Housing, said: “We are grateful to all the providers who took part in our data submission pilot.
“We really value the additional insight they gave us, which demonstrates the value of small provider TSMs, and confirmed our existing approach to data submission.
“All social landlords, including small providers, must continue to use their TSM results to drive service improvements for the benefit of tenants.”
Peter Luck, Managing Director, ROCC, welcomed the news, saying: “I’m pleased about the Regulator’s decision to exempt smaller housing providers from the requirement to submit TSM data to the RSH.
“It’s a recognition of the resource pressures these organisations face, while still preserving the critical role that tenant‑satisfaction metrics play.
“At ROCC, we believe all landlords, whether large or small, should continue to collect, analyse and act on tenant feedback. The true value of TSMs lies not in regulatory reporting, but in using them to drive real improvements in service delivery and tenant experience.”
