Midlothian Council welcomes tenants' survey results

Midlothian Council today (Tuesday 24 February) welcomed the results of the 2025 Tenant Satisfaction Survey (TSS), which show continued improvement in how tenants rate our housing services.

Increase

Tenant satisfaction has increased to 82.1%, up from the previous survey carried out in 2022. Midlothian’s performance also remains above the Scottish social housing average of 81.2%. 

Statutory Duty

The survey forms a key part of the council’s landlord responsibilities and provides crucial evidence to the Scottish Housing Regulator  - as part of the Annual Return of the Charter. It supports the council in meeting its statutory duty to monitor tenant satisfaction and ensures compliance with equality requirements by capturing data across protected groups.

Strong performance  

Survey results show that tenants continue to value the quality of their homes, neighbourhood management and the professionalism of housing staff.

Key findings include:

• Quality of Homes: 85.3% of tenants are satisfied with the quality of their home - above the Scottish average of 80.5%.
• Neighbourhood Management: 85.3% satisfaction, demonstrating strong performance well above the sector average of 79.47%.
• Repairs and Maintenance: Satisfaction increased to 79.1%, reflecting continued success in maintaining safe, warm and well‑maintained homes.
• Staff Conduct: The highest scoring measure—88.6%—shows tenants feel staff are respectful and fair.
• Rent: Tenants generally feel rent levels represent good value for money in relation to the quality of housing services received and  ongoing cost‑of‑living pressures. 

Face to face

A total of 760 tenants took part in the survey, which was independently carried out by the Knowledge Partnership between September and October 2025. The format was face‑to‑face interviews to ensure that tenants from all backgrounds were able to provide meaningful feedback in a way that suited them.

Acting on survey feedback

The council always strives to act on feedback so is working to make improvements based on survey findings. This includes working to reduce wait times and improving first‑time completion and reviewing planned maintenance to ensure properties are in good condition.   

Tenant participation

To further strengthen communication and decision‑making, the council is introducing a new tenant portal this year.

Thanks to tenants

Midlothian Cabinet Member for Housing, Cllr Stuart McKenzie said: “The Tenant Satisfaction Survey is a really valuable tool because it gives us honest insight into our tenant's experiences and helps shape how we plan and improve our services for the future. I want to thank every tenant who shared their views with us in this survey. Your voices matter and guides the way we deliver our housing services.”

Published

The findings of the survey will be published on the council’s website, social media channels and through tenant groups, in line with the Tenant Participation & Customer Engagement Strategy.