Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs) Explained

Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs) are a mandatory set of 22 standardised metrics that every social landlord in England must collect and publish. Introduced by the Regulator of Social Housing in April 2023, they are designed to let tenants see how their landlord performs and to drive up standards across the sector. If you rent from a housing association or council, your landlord is required to ask for your views and report the results annually.

The measures sit alongside other accountability tools, including the Housing Ombudsman Service, which publishes formal complaint determinations. While TSMs show broad tenant satisfaction, Ombudsman decisions record specific service failures that reached a formal outcome. Together they give a fuller picture of landlord performance than either dataset alone.

What the 22 measures cover

The 22 Tenant Satisfaction Measures are split into two types. Twelve are tenant perception measures, collected through an annual survey that asks residents about their experience of landlord services. Ten are management information measures, drawn from landlords' own records and performance data.

The perception measures cover five themes:

• Keeping properties in good repair — satisfaction with repairs, time taken to complete repairs, and the condition of the home.
• Maintaining building safety — feeling safe in the home, fire safety, and safety checks such as gas, asbestos and legionella risk assessments.
• Respectful and helpful engagement — ease of contact, being kept informed, being treated fairly and with respect, and involvement in decisions.
• Effective handling of complaints — satisfaction with complaints handling and whether complaints were responded to within the Housing Ombudsman's Complaint Handling Code timescales.
• Responsible neighbourhood management — satisfaction with the neighbourhood, communal areas, and anti-social behaviour handling.

The management information measures include objective data such as the proportion of homes that do not meet the Decent Homes Standard, repairs completed within target timescales, the number of complaints per 1,000 homes, the proportion of complaints responded to within code timescales, safety check completion rates, and anti-social behaviour cases per 1,000 homes.

How TSMs are collected and published

Landlords must collect tenant perception data at least once a year through a survey that reaches a representative sample of their residents. Most landlords appoint an independent research agency to carry out the survey by phone, post or online. The questions are standardised so that results can be compared across landlords.

Management information measures are extracted from landlord systems at the end of each financial year (31 March). Landlords report figures such as repairs completion rates, safety check records and complaints volumes using standard definitions set by the Regulator.

Once collected, landlords submit both sets of data to the Regulator of Social Housing. The Regulator then publishes headline reports and landlord-level datasets. The first full reporting year was 2023-24, with data published in late 2024. Results are updated annually.

You can find the official TSM guidance and published data on the Regulator's website. Most landlords also publish their own results on their websites, often in annual reports to tenants or dedicated performance pages.

How TSMs relate to Housing Ombudsman complaints

TSMs and Housing Ombudsman decisions measure landlord performance through different lenses. TSMs capture tenant satisfaction and operational performance across standardised metrics. Ombudsman decisions capture individual disputes that reached a formal published determination after the landlord's own complaints process.

A landlord can score well on satisfaction surveys while still receiving Ombudsman complaints, because satisfaction is about general perception and Ombudsman decisions are about specific failures. Conversely, a landlord with lower satisfaction scores may resolve most complaints locally before they reach the Ombudsman. The two datasets should be read together rather than treated as alternatives.

What the Ombudsman data adds

While TSMs tell you how tenants feel, Ombudsman decisions tell you what the independent adjudicator found when specific complaints were investigated. Our index currently holds 16,224 published determinations across 603 landlords, including 2,499 findings of severe maladministration. The total compensation ordered across these decisions is £7,607,904. Source: Landlord Record analysis of Housing Ombudsman decisions (OGL v3.0).

This data reveals which landlords appear most often in upheld determinations. In our worst-landlords-overall ranking, London & Quadrant Housing Trust currently leads with 914 adverse findings. These are not customer-satisfaction scores; they are counts of published formal findings by the Housing Ombudsman.

The distinction matters for tenants. A landlord with many adverse Ombudsman findings has a pattern of service failures that an independent body has upheld. That is a different signal from a TSM satisfaction score, and it can help you understand the nature and seriousness of complaints that have reached a formal stage. You can explore the full ranking on our worst landlords overall page, or browse individual landlord profiles to read decision summaries.

The Regulator of Social Housing uses TSMs to identify landlords that may need closer scrutiny. The Housing Ombudsman uses complaints to resolve individual disputes and publish determinations. For tenants, the practical value is that TSMs show broad performance trends, while Ombudsman decisions show what has happened to real residents in specific cases — including the orders and compensation that resulted.

How tenants can use TSMs

You can use Tenant Satisfaction Measures in several ways. First, compare your landlord's scores to the sector median published by the Regulator. If your landlord scores below the median on repairs satisfaction or complaints handling, that is a useful signal to follow up.

Second, read the management information measures alongside the perception measures. A landlord may report high repair completion rates but low tenant satisfaction with repairs. That gap can reveal where operational targets are being met without tenant experience improving.

Third, use TSMs alongside Ombudsman data. Our guide to which housing association has the most complaints shows landlords ranked by published Ombudsman findings. Comparing that ranking with TSM scores can highlight landlords where high complaint volumes and low satisfaction align — or where they diverge.

Fourth, check the specific measures that matter to you. If you are concerned about repairs, look at the repairs and home condition measures. If you are worried about how your complaint was handled, check the complaints TSMs and compare them with our guides on how to complain and the compensation process.

Finally, remember that TSMs are annual snapshots. A single year's results may reflect temporary issues or improvements. Look at trends where multiple years of data are available, and combine TSMs with local tenant feedback, regulatory inspection reports and Ombudsman decisions to build a complete view. You can also read our guide to the Regulator of Social Housing for more on how regulation and complaints interact.

Are TSMs enough on their own?

No. TSMs are a valuable accountability tool, but they have limitations. Survey response rates vary between landlords, and a small sample can produce scores that fluctuate year to year. Perception measures reflect tenant opinion, which is influenced by expectations, communication and factors outside the landlord's control.

Management information measures are more objective, but they still depend on accurate landlord record-keeping. A landlord that records complaints differently from its peers may appear better or worse than it really is.

For these reasons, TSMs work best as part of a wider evidence base. Combine them with Ombudsman decisions, regulatory inspection outcomes, and your own experience. If you are considering making a complaint, TSMs can show whether your landlord has a known weakness in the area you are concerned about. Ombudsman decisions can show what outcomes are possible and what compensation has been ordered in similar cases.

For the worst-performing landlords by published Ombudsman findings, see our worst housing associations overview. For a broader view of landlord accountability, see our complaint rankings and the live worst landlords overall league table.

Sources

The Tenant Satisfaction Measures standard is set by the Regulator of Social Housing. You can read the official guidance and view published data on the Regulator's TSM collection page. For the Housing Ombudsman's role in complaints, including its Complaint Handling Code and determinations archive, see the Housing Ombudsman website. For UK social housing legislation and regulation, see legislation.gov.uk and gov.uk.