TENANTS in the York area have given the service provided by the city council the thumbs-up in a new survey.

About 80 per cent of tenants said they were very or fairly satisfied with City of York Council's housing services in an annual poll.

The housing services monitor postal survey was sent to 1,800 randomly-selected council tenants across the city in September.

The results showed the number of people who were "very dissatisfied" had been cut by half, from six to three per cent, while 76 per cent agreed - either strongly or slightly - that the council was a good landlord.

Steve Waddington, head of housing services for the council, said: "It is pleasing to see that overall satisfaction with housing services remains high.

"The results are invaluable in helping us to work towards further improving services and tackling any issues or problems that are causing concern for tenants."

The survey also showed:

  • 80 per cent of tenants rated the condition of their homes as good or very good - up one per cent on last year
  • More than three-quarters of those surveyed were happy with their neighbourhood as a place to live - up two per cent
  • There was a ten per cent drop in people's satisfaction with the maintenance of outdoor areas - from 77 to 67 per cent
  • The proportion of tenants satisfied with the repairs and maintenance service has increase by two per cent since 2005, to 79 per cent.

Andrew Waller, deputy council leader, said: "It is pleasing to see that all the hard work that has taken place over the last 12 months is reflected in increasing overall customer satisfaction.

"However, this does not mean that we can rest on our laurels. Plans are already being developed to work in partnership with tenants to improve many aspects of the service, to ensure that we continue to provide and improve this excellent service."

Eight out of ten of tenants who had a copy of the survey responded. The findings will guide council chiefs in how to change services.