Tenants' Annual Report 2025 to 2026

Message from your Cabinet Member for Housing and Technology, Cllr Lee Chamberlain

Welcome to our Tenants Annual Report for 2025 to 2026.

As the new administration, we know there is room for improvement in the housing service you receive. There have been some good improvements already, but we also know that many tenants and their families have waited too long for some problems to be fixed. This is not good enough, and we are determined to change that.

This report sets out how we have performed over the last year. It shows where we have made progress, where we need to do better, and what we are doing next. We want to be open with you about the challenges we face, because improving services starts with being honest about what is working and what is not.

One of our main priorities is to listen more closely to tenants. We want to hear about your day-to-day experience of living in your home and neighbourhood. We also want to understand the long-term issues that keep coming up, so we can get to the root of the problems and not just deal with them one by one.

Your feedback matters. It helps us make better decisions, focuses our resources in the right places, and checks whether changes are making a real difference. We want tenants to feel heard, respected and kept informed. We also want you to see clear action when you raise concerns.

We are committed to making homes safer, better maintained and more comfortable. We also want neighbourhoods to be cleaner, safer and places where people are proud to live. This means improving repairs, tackling problems on estates, strengthening communication, and working with tenants, staff and partners to deliver lasting change.

There will not be quick fixes for every issue. Some problems have built up over time and will take time to put right. But our promise is clear: we will listen, we will act, and we will keep working to make homes and neighbourhoods better for tenants and their families.

The year at a glance

What we delivered from April 2025 to March 2026

• £40.2 million spent maintaining and improving council homes
• 100% fire safety checks
• 95% of our cleaning inspections graded Gold or Silver
• 95% of our grounds maintenance inspections graded Gold or Silver
• 182 estate improvements delivered
• Over 1,000 Enfield 500 members
• £47.3 million secured in grants to build new homes
• 652 incidents reported through estate security patrols
• 5% rise in tenants’ satisfaction with our complaints handling
• 448 priority comments received from the Big Door Knocks
• 55,678 repairs calls answered (91% of repairs calls answered) – up by 18%
• Introduced Octavia, AI complaints assistant
• New visual online repairs reporting webform

Our performance: Tenant Satisfaction Measure Survey scores

How are we performing?

The Regulator of Social Housing requires all councils and housing associations to carry out an annual survey of tenants. The Tenant Satisfaction Measure (TSM) survey helps us understand how residents feel about us as their landlord and our services. In 2025, independent market research organisation BMG surveyed a random and representative group of 1,001 tenants from across our council homes.

Satisfaction rose across 4 of the 12 TSMs in the year. It reduced in 7 areas and remained the same in one. Overall, our scores were the same or exceeded the London peer group median in 10 out of the 12 TSMs. Our peers are other London councils.

*The London peer median TSM scores for 2025-2026 were provided by housing sector data and insight company, Housemark.

BMG will carry out the 2026 Tenant Satisfaction Measure survey in the autumn. If you are chosen, BMG will knock on your door and carry out a TSM survey on your doorstep – if you agree to it. The survey will take 10 to 15 minutes. Your responses will be reported to us anonymously. BMG will carry identification and a letter confirming they are conducting the survey for us.

See service improvements following the survey.

Service improvements following the survey

Service improvements following the Tenant Satisfaction Measure survey

Tenant Satisfaction Measure results, together with feedback from our Enfield 500 residents’ advisory group, help us identify where services can improve.

Each year we use this feedback to develop a Service Improvement Plan focused on delivering better outcomes for residents.

Satisfaction increased in a number of service areas following improvements:

• Repairs
• Complaint handling
• Cleanliness and maintenance of communal areas

How we improved other service areas in the year

Keeping homes well maintained

We continued to invest in council homes, strengthened our repairs service and increased our focus on damp and mould to help keep homes in good condition.

Keeping homes safe

We invested £40.2 million in maintaining and improving council homes and continued to prioritise building and resident health and safety.

Listening to residents and acting on their feedback

We exceeded our target in recruiting more than 1,000 members to the Enfield 500 consultation and advisory group which gives residents the opportunity to influence and shape how we deliver better services such repairs for damp and mould and handling complaints.

Keeping residents informed about things that matter to them

We provided regular updates through newsletters, Enfield 500 News Bulletins, and resident events to keep you informed about services.

Treating residents fairly and with respect

We improved customer service and reviewed services to make sure they were accessible, inclusive and responsive to residents’ needs.

Making a positive contribution to neighbourhoods

The estate enhancement service made significant improvements to our housing estates in the year, shaped by feedback from residents and the Enfield 500.

Tackling antisocial behaviour

We strengthened our response to antisocial behaviour by working in partnership with the police and deploying our enhanced concierge security patrol service teams across our estates.

Providing better and safer homes

Providing you with decent, safe and well-maintained homes is a top priority for us. A total of 98.3% of our homes met the government Decent Homes Standard in the year compared to 94.65% in 2024-2025.

Our investment in the year

We spent £40.2 million on maintaining and improving your council homes.

Improvements included:

• 416 new boilers
• 63 new kitchens
• 40 new bathrooms
• 114 new windows
• 233 new roofs
• 173 new doors
• 166 electrical upgrades
• 304 cold water storage tanks replaced
• 165 home insulation upgrades
• 8,144 homes surveyed in last 5 years

Building safety

A total of £12.8 million (out of the £40.2 million) was spent on measures to ensure our homes were compliant with building and fire safety requirements. Safety improvements to our high-rise bocks included firestopping, fire doors, and smoke control measures.

We also carried out safety checks as required by the Regulator of Social Housing. We achieved 100% compliance across four areas, with a slightly lower compliance score for gas safety. Sometimes we cannot get access to carry out checks. Let us know if your appointment time needs rearranging.

Our repairs service

Repairs were a major area of work in 2025-2026, with record activity and better service delivery. We completed more than 42,000 repairs while maintaining a clear focus on safety, disrepair, damp and mould.

Performance also improved. More than 90% of repairs were completed on time, with tenant satisfaction at 92.4% for non-emergency repairs and 91.1% for emergency repairs. This means more repairs fixed sooner, with stronger outcomes for residents.

We also strengthened our response to damp and mould as Awaab’s Law came in from October 2025. Our specialist team completed 1,450 damp and mould orders from October to March 2026, more than was done in the whole of 2024-2025, with high performance maintained against urgent 24-hour cases.

Repairs improvements

You told us you wanted options on how to report repairs, and when you needed to speak to someone, we needed to make this easier. So, we made some changes:

A new online repairs webform

Using the online form where you can helps us spend more time with residents who need to call us, so we introduced a new picture-based online webform to make it quicker for you to identify and report routine repair problems online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There is a select language button at the top of the webform that translates it into the language of your choice.

Video calls

We introduced optional video calls so you can show us the problem when you report a repair. They help us understand the issue clearly from the start so that we can bring the correct parts to fix it. Any smartphone can receive a video call from us. We send you a text message – all you have to do is click 'Accept'. The choice is yours. There were 662 video calls in the year.

Housing Repairs Resolution Centre

The Housing Repairs Resolution Centre had a strong year. Repairs calls from residents answered increased from 45,691 to 55,678 and the answered call rate improved from 73% to 91%. Average wait times fell from 11 minutes 14 seconds to 3 minutes 38 seconds.

Lift safety

We know how important reliable lifts are, especially for residents living in high-rise blocks. We continued our programme of lift inspections, servicing and repairs. We are also investing in a major lift modernisation and replacement programme, focusing on older lifts and those with a history of breakdowns. The upgrades will replace outdated parts with more reliable technology, helping to reduce breakdowns. We carried out 100% of lift safety checks in the year.

Improving how we handle complaints

Complaints: listening and learning

We want complaints to be handled fairly, clearly and quickly. They help us understand what has gone wrong and what needs to improve.

Performance

Between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026, we received 767 complaints and responded to 92% within timescales. Satisfaction with complaint handling rose from 23% to 28%. This is progress, but we know we still need to do better.

Our complaints process follows the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code. Residents can complain online or through other council contact routes. We aim to acknowledge complaints within 5 working days and provide a full Stage 1 response within 10 working days.

Making complaints easier to make – and resolve quicker

We have introduced Octavia, an AI complaints assistant linked to GovMetric CaseTracker. Octavia helps identify and route complaints to the right team more quickly, reducing delays and giving staff more time to focus on resolving issues.

CaseTracker is our single place to log, allocate, manage and monitor complaints from start to finish. It replaces reliance on email chains and spreadsheets, helping to avoid complaints being missed or duplicated.

Once a complaint is submitted, customers will receive prompt acknowledgement and regular updates, alongside clear explanations of stages, timescales and who will respond.

Cabinet Member Response to Annual Complaints Report

“I have reviewed the Annual Complaints Report for 2025-26, which will be published and shared with the Housing Ombudsman this month. I welcome the progress made during the year and the continued focus on using complaints as a source of learning to improve housing services.

“I recognise that repairs, damp and mould, communication and delays remain key concerns for residents. I welcome the introduction of strengthened systems and oversight arrangements that will support more effective complaint handling, more timely responses, and greater accountability across services.

“Residents’ feedback is essential in helping us understand their experience of our services and where we need to improve. I support the priorities identified for 2026-2027 and will continue to monitor progress to ensure that lessons learned from complaints lead to better outcomes for tenants and leaseholders.”

Cllr Lee Chamberlain, Cabinet Member for Housing and Technology

Our landlord service

Supporting our tenants

We want our tenants to live safely and securely in homes that meet their needs. Some may face challenges such as financial hardship, ill health or other vulnerabilities. We can help with finances and rent payments (see page 19). We also refer tenants to Citizens Advice Enfield for help on debt, benefits and legal matters.

Homes that meet your needs

We want you to live in a home that’s right for you. We don’t have as much housing as we need, but we try our best to work with you if your current home does not suit your needs. In the year we provided the following:

Adaptations

304 adaptations completed to meet tenants’ needs.

Mutual exchanges

A total of 22 were completed. These exchanges mean council tenants can swap tenancies to secure homes better suited to their household’s needs.

Wellbeing visits to vulnerable tenants

We carried out 710 visits to vulnerable tenants to ensure they were getting all the support they needed to remain living well in their homes.

New homes allocation

27 out of 160 new-build homes delivered by the council and its development partners were let to existing tenants for social or affordable rent. See our Housing schemes page for more information on new homes.

Moves to larger council homes

We moved 22 overcrowded households into larger accommodation.

Moves to supported housing

A total of 60 residents moved into sheltered or extra care housing schemes so they could remain living independently, but with support available if needed.

Sheltered Housing Forum

The Forum gives sheltered housing tenants the chance to share their views and help us improve schemes. Members’ feedback in the year resulted in positive changes including:

• new noticeboards to keep residents updated on repairs, services and officer visits
• clearer information on when scheme communal areas were cleaned
• updates on future investment planned to improve schemes

See our Sheltered housing page for more information.

Big Door Knock events – listening to you and acting on your views

Your feedback is helping us improve housing services.

In March 2026, we held our second Big Door Knock. Housing staff visited homes, blocks and estates across Enfield to speak with council housing tenants and leaseholders about what it is like to live in their home and neighbourhood.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to speak with us. Your views help us understand what we are doing well, where we need to do better and what matters most to you.

Residents shared 448 priority comments. These comments tell us the issues that matter most to residents and where we need to focus our improvement efforts. The main issues raised were repairs, damp and mould, communication, cleaning, waste, safety, antisocial behaviour, accessibility and support for residents who may need extra help.

What you told us

Many residents told us they want everyday housing services to be more reliable. You raised concerns about outstanding repairs, leaks, heating, windows, doors, water pressure, shared areas, bins, fly-tipping, lifts, door entry systems, CCTV and feeling safe where you live.

Some residents also told us about health conditions, mobility needs, caring responsibilities or personal circumstances. This reminded us how important it is to listen carefully and make sure services respond to people’s different needs.

Repairs were the biggest issue raised. Residents told us about damp and mould, leaks, heating, windows, doors, kitchens, bathrooms, lifts and repairs that had not solved the problem.

What we are doing

We are using your feedback to improve how repairs are recorded, sent to the right team and followed up. The Big Door Knock helped us identify individual repair issues and wider problems, such as repeat repairs and poor communication after appointments.

This will help us focus on the repairs that residents have told us are most urgent and important.

Communication and follow-up

Residents told us they want clearer updates after reporting an issue. You want to know who is dealing with it, what will happen next and when the work has been completed.

We know this has not always been good enough. We are improving how feedback is tracked from first contact to completion, so there is clearer ownership of issues and better records of updates.

Cleaner and safer estates

You told us you want shared spaces to feel cleaner, safer and better cared for. Concerns included cleaning, communal areas, bins, fly-tipping, lifts, security, CCTV and antisocial behaviour.

We are using this Big Door Knock feedback to better target caretaking, cleaning, waste, security and antisocial behaviour work. It also helps us understand where residents feel more needs to be done.

This will help us focus on cleaner blocks, better waste management, stronger follow-up on antisocial behaviour and a more visible presence on estates.

Support when it is needed

Some residents told us about disability, illness, damp and mould affecting their health, or difficulties managing their home because of personal circumstances.

Where residents told us about support needs, we passed this to the right housing teams for follow-up. Your feedback has also shown that we need to record support needs more clearly and make sure services respond with care.

This is part of making housing services fairer, kinder and easier to access.

What happens next

The Big Door Knock is one of the ways we listen to residents and check whether our services are working for you. It also helps us show how feedback is being turned into action.

The first and second Big Door Knock have confirmed the main areas residents want us to focus on:

• Better repairs, especially damp and mould, leaks, heating and repeat repairs
• Clearer communication and follow-up
• Cleaner and better maintained shared areas
• More action on fly-tipping, safety and antisocial behaviour
• Better support for residents with health, mobility or accessibility needs
• Clearer evidence that feedback has led to action

Tenant Satisfaction Measure results tell us the same thing. Residents want us to improve how we listen, communicate, treat people fairly, manage neighbourhoods and respond to antisocial behaviour.

Our commitment to you

Your feedback will continue to shape housing services. What you tell us helps us identify common problems, improve how we follow up and focus on what matters to people in their homes, estates and neighbourhoods.

Residents have been clear. You want a landlord that listens, acts, communicates clearly and follows through. The Big Door Knock helps us move from listening to action and shows how resident voices are helping to build a safer, cleaner, fairer and more responsive housing service across Enfield.

Clean and well-maintained estates

We inspect our estates regularly to make sure they are clean and well looked after, and to identify where improvements are needed.

Housemark is the inspection application tool that we use to assess our estates. This is common practice for social housing landlords like us. There are 21 cleanliness standards and three grounds maintenance standards. We improved across all these standards in the year.

Estate cleaning performance

Our performance improved in the year with more cleaning inspections carried out – and more estates graded as Gold (very good) or Silver (good).

Additionally, the number of estates graded Bronze (in need of further attention) and Unclassified (in need of immediate attention) decreased in the year.

Grounds maintenance performance

We also use Housemark to assess how well we are doing in maintaining communal and outdoor spaces. These standards include things like grass cutting and trimming hedges.

Our performance improved in the year with more inspections carried out and more of these spaces graded as Gold (very good) or Silver (good).

Estate improvements

The estate enhancement service makes significant improvements to our housing estates. The programme in the year was shaped by feedback from estate residents and our Enfield 500 engagement group.

We carried out 182 improvement works in the year in four service areas based on what residents living on our estates told us mattered the most to them.

Works completed included pressure washing stairwells, new play equipment and bin enclosures.

There were also new planters and security gates, plus car park upgrades.

Resident Champions

We have recently established a resident champions group following a pilot project carried out in 2024-2025. The champions will work with us on further estate improvements.

The group will officially launch in September.

See more information on our estate enhancement service and the champions.

Safer neighbourhoods

Tackling antisocial behaviour

Throughout the year we worked closely with residents, the Metropolitan Police and partner agencies to tackle antisocial behaviour (ASB). This ranges from noise nuisance and neighbour disputes to criminal activity. Joint action days were also carried out on a number of estates to address local concerns and improve safety.

Taking action

Where evidence supported it, we took enforcement action against ASB perpetrators and used legal measures to protect residents and communities. This included working with other council teams and partner organisations to resolve issues and support residents.

Supporting residents

Residents affected by ASB received regular updates and support throughout their cases. We carried out vulnerability assessments and worked with partner agencies to provide additional assistance where needed.

To protect vulnerable residents from exploitation, we secured several Partial Closure Orders, restricting access to buildings and properties by individuals causing harm or concern.

Keeping housing estates safe

Measures such as mediation, security improvements and estate inspections helped prevent problems from escalating and supported residents in feeling safer in their homes and neighbourhoods.

Supporting victims of domestic abuse and harassment

Residents experiencing domestic abuse and living separately from former partners were provided with Ring doorbell cameras. These devices help improve safety by recording activity at the doorstep, providing real-time alerts, capturing evidence of any incidents, and offering reassurance to residents who may feel at risk.

Safer estates

Enhanced Concierge Security Service

Our council housing roving security patrols continue to provide a visible and reassuring presence across our estates. They are designed to help deter antisocial behaviour, respond to local concerns and help residents feel safer in their homes and estates.

We use information from residents and council staff to decide where roving security team patrols are most needed.

During the year, the team identified a total of 652 issues requiring enforcement action.

Going forward, we plan to secure better evidence of ASB incidents on our estates using footage captured by our roving security patrol team (wearing body-worn cameras) and also via CCTV. This will enable us to take enforcement action against more ASB perpetrators.

Issues identified

• 315 drug-related items
• 248 fly-tipping
• 24 loitering
• 23 sex working
• 23 rough sleeping
• 11 waste-related issues
• 6 noise nuisance
• 2 gang-related activity

How we spend the money you pay us for your homes and services

The Housing Revenue Account (HRA) is a ring-fenced account that is used solely for providing and managing council housing services. It cannot be used to fund other council services.

Income to the HRA comes primarily from tenants’ rent and service charges, together with income from shops, garages and community halls located on council housing estates. This income is used to fund housing management, repairs, maintenance and other housing-related services.

A breakdown of HRA income 2025 to 2026

• 84% Tenants’ rents
• 11 % Service charges*, paid by tenants and leaseholders
• 4% Rent from shops, garages and community halls
• 1% Interest received on bank balances

*These charges pay for the provision of communal services within your building and outside areas.

All our council housing properties at a glance

• 10,248 tenanted properties
• 4,956 leaseholder properties
• 2,029 garages
• 179 shops
• 12 community halls

2024 to 2025 expenditure

A breakdown of how we spent each £1 of your rent money

• Housing Management Services – 23p
• Building new homes for tenants – 13p
• Provision of communal services – 18p
• Borrowing costs – 22p
• Day-to-day repairs – 17p
• Improving homes – 7p

See rent collection and helping tenants in arrears.

Rent collection and helping tenants in arrears

Total rent collected in 2025 to 2026

We collected 100.30%* of the rent owed to us compared with 99.49% in 2024 to 2025.

The collection rate was more than 100% because it included rents charged during the year – and also payments from tenants towards paying off outstanding rent arrears.

This improvement was achieved during a period when many residents continued to face financial pressures because of the rising cost of living. We work closely with the council’s Welfare and Debt Team to support our tenants in arrears by:

• checking all available benefits are being claimed
• helping with grant applications if the tenant is eligible for them, for example, Discretionary Housing Payment or Household Support Fund grant
• setting up realistic payment plans to clear arrears

*Collection rate was more than 100% as it included rents charged during the year – and also payments from tenants towards paying off outstanding rent arrears.

See our Cost of living support page for more information.

A tenant we helped in the year

A 34-year-old tenant was at risk of losing her home due to rent arrears, and an eviction date had been set. Through targeted support and advice from our dedicated team, she secured a Discretionary Housing Payment and a Household Support Funding payment. Also, an issue with her Universal Credit claim was resolved. She set up a standing order to ensure her rent arrears were paid off every month and she was able to remain in her home.

Generating extra funding so we can do more – at no cost to you

We secured £2.4m from the sale of underused garage sites and land not suitable for us to build new homes on. This income contributed to our investment programme which includes providing decent homes that are energy efficient and maintaining building safety.

We also secured government grant funding to improve homes and assist in delivering new council homes. For 2025 to 2026, we received the following grants which totalled £47.9 million.