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Housing Sector Market Research

Related Services

Code of Conduct Development
Online Communities With Tenants
Private Rented Sector Market Research
Tenant Satisfaction Measure Research
Transactional Surveys With Tenants

Housing Sector Market Research

Social housing providers are under increasing pressure to improve tenant outcomes, strengthen resident trust, and demonstrate compliance with evolving regulatory standards. M·E·L Research provides housing associations and local authority landlords with robust insight that supports strong service delivery and evidence-based decision making.

We are passionate about helping organisations place tenant voice at the centre of housing services. Our specialist housing research team delivers high-quality quantitative and qualitative research that helps clients understand tenant experiences, identify priorities for improvement, and demonstrate impact.

Our Housing Research Services

Transactional Tenant Surveys

We deliver transactional tenant surveys that enable tenants to provide timely feedback on specific services, including repairs, servicing and anti-social behaviour complaints. Our experienced interviewers engage with tenants every week to capture rich, reliable insight into service experiences, while online and SMS survey options help maximise accessibility and inclusivity.

Our clients benefit from:

  • real-time performance insight
  • early identification of service issues
  • improved understanding of tenant experience
  • actionable feedback to support continuous improvement

Insight is delivered through bespoke online dashboards and reporting portals, allowing users to explore trends, benchmark performance, and analyse resident sentiment in depth.

Find out more about our transactional tenant survey services.

Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs)

Our experienced team delivers regulator-compliant Tenant Satisfaction Measure (TSM) surveys surveys that provide robust and representative resident insight.

Alongside regulation complaint data collection, we help clients maximise the value of TSMs by:

  • advising on survey design and methodology
  • identifying service improvement priorities
  • providing impactful analysis and reporting
  • helping organisations understand the stories behind the scores

Our reporting tools help housing providers communicate findings clearly across operational teams, leadership groups and boards.

Find out more about our TSM services.

Qualitative Deep Dives

We design and deliver qualitative research that explores the experiences, expectations and priorities of tenants in greater depth. Areas of focus include:

  • customer service expectations in the context of the Competence and Conduct Standard
  • customer journeys and service touchpoints
  • neighbourhood and estate improvement priorities
  • barriers to accessing services
  • resident trust and engagement

Our qualitative insight helps organisations better understand the lived experiences behind quantitative data and identify meaningful opportunities for improvement.

Find out more about our qualitative research services.

Stakeholder and Reputation Research

We support housing providers in understanding how they are perceived by key stakeholders, partners and communities. Our research explores:

  • organisational reputation
  • perceived social impact
  • partnership effectiveness
  • community relationships
  • local priorities and expectations

This insight helps organisations strengthen engagement strategies and demonstrate their value within the communities they serve.

Private Rented Sector Licencing Research and Consultation

We have extensive experience supporting public consultation on private rented sector licensing schemes, including both selective and additional licensing proposals.

Having worked with London boroughs and local authorities across England, we provide end-to-end consultation support including:

  • resident and landlord engagement
  • survey design and delivery
  • stakeholder consultation
  • analysis and reporting
  • evidence gathering to support decision making

Our team understands the importance of delivering consultation processes that are robust, inclusive and transparent.

Find out more about our private rented sector market research (PRS) and consultation services.

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Talk to us about housing market research

Get in touch to discuss how our experts can support your next housing market research project.

Enquire about Housing & Development market research

Enquire about our housing research services

Ready to take the next step and learn how we can assist your organisation with market research and analysis?

Contact us today

Our Housing Sector Team

Research & Evaluation

Gayle Higginson in a red floral dress

Gayle Higginson, Research Manager

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Senior Management

KE

Karen Etheridge, Managing Director

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Research & Evaluation

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Michael Keating, Research Manager

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Senior Management

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Steve Handley, Director – Insights Team

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Housing Sector Market Research Team

Research & Evaluation

Gayle Higginson in a red floral dress

Gayle Higginson, Research Manager

View Team Member

Senior Management

KE

Karen Etheridge, Managing Director

View Team Member

Research & Evaluation

Article cover image size 324 x 211px 86

Michael Keating, Research Manager

View Team Member

Senior Management

SH

Steve Handley, Director – Insights Team

View Team Member

Housing Sector Market Research Case Studies

Case Studies

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North Northamptonshire Council: Tenant Satisfaction Measures Survey

North Northamptonshire Council commissioned M·E·L Research to conduct a Tenant Satisfaction Measures survey among its council housing tenants. The work was undertaken to provide the Council with robust, representative evidence on tenants’ views of its housing service, in line with the requirements of the Regulator of Social Housing. The research needed to measure performance across the 12 Tenant Satisfaction Measures, covering overall satisfaction, repairs, home maintenance, safety, engagement, complaints, communal areas, neighbourhood contribution…

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Case Studies

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Resident Survey to Assess the Impact of Local Infrastructure Changes

M·E·L Research was commissioned to undertake a survey of residents living within a tightly defined geographic area surrounding Denham’s Corner. The research was commissioned to inform decision-making around proposed local infrastructure changes that had the potential to affect residents’ access to and use of the surrounding environment. Given the small size of the affected community, it was essential that the research captured the views and behaviours of local residents who would be directly impacted by any future changes. The client required robust…

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Case Studies

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Sandwell Council: Budget Consultation and Residents’ Survey

Sandwell Council commissioned M·E·L Research to undertake a large-scale consultation with residents to inform the Council’s budget-setting process for 2026/27. The research was designed to provide robust evidence on residents’ priorities, views on local services, and attitudes towards potential approaches for balancing the Council’s budget in a challenging financial climate. The wider context for the work was significant financial pressure facing local government, alongside increasing demand for services linked to the cost-of-living crisis, inflation and rising…

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Case Studies

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Harrow Council: Residents’ Survey Provider

M·E·L Research was commissioned by Harrow Council to deliver a large scale resident survey to understand views on local services, priorities and overall satisfaction. The findings were intended to support strategic planning and performance monitoring, ensuring resident feedback was clearly aligned with the council’s wider mission and objectives. A key requirement was to generate robust, representative data at scale, while also enabling deeper insight into how perceptions vary across different communities and geographies. The council also required benchmarking against national measures and comparison with previous…

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Case Studies

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Vico Homes: Employee Survey

WHD (now Vico Homes) commissioned M·E·L Research to deliver a staff engagement survey following its organisational rebrand. The survey formed part of a wider programme to understand colleague perceptions during a period of change, including views on organisational identity, communication, leadership, and workplace experience. The key objective was to capture organisation-wide feedback to inform future internal strategy and support the transition to Vico Homes. A particular challenge was ensuring strong engagement across the workforce and capturing honest feedback during a period of change…

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Case Studies

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Cumberland Council: Residents’ Survey

The client was Cumberland Council, a newly formed local authority created by bringing together services from multiple former district and county councils. As a new organisation, the Council did not have any existing residents survey data and therefore lacked a baseline to understand resident perceptions, satisfaction, and priorities. The core business need was to generate robust, representative insight into residents’ views to inform decision making, service improvement, and future performance tracking. The Council also wanted to benchmark findings against national data from the Local Government Association…

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Case Studies

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Croydon Council: PRS Licensing Public Consultations

Croydon Council commissioned M·E·L Research to design and deliver a statutory public consultation on proposals to introduce new property licensing schemes across the borough. The proposals included a Selective Licensing scheme covering 14 wards and a borough-wide Additional Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licensing scheme. These were intended to improve housing conditions, management standards, and reduce anti-social behaviour within the Private Rented Sector (PRS). The consultation was set against a backdrop of increasing reliance on privately rented…

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Case Studies

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Your Housing: Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSM) Survey

M·E·L Research was commissioned for the second year in a row to support Your Housing to complete their annual Tenant Satisfaction Measures surveys with their LCRA and LCHO tenants. Your Housing had taken a telephone survey approach, with interlocking quotas to achieve a representative sample of customers. Whilst the project initially was for additional fieldwork support to boost the final TSM numbers (around 250 surveys required) with the majority falling with the LCRA cohort this moved to having to achieve very specific quotas amongst the LCHO population. 

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Case Studies

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The London Borough of Newham: Residents’ Survey

The London Borough of Newham commissioned M·E·L Research to deliver a borough-wide residents’ survey to understand how people living in the borough perceive their local area, the services they receive, and the Council itself. The research was designed to provide robust evidence to support strategic decision-making, service improvement and communications planning. Newham is one of London’s most diverse boroughs, with significant variation between neighbourhoods and demographic groups. The Council required reliable and representative insight that could capture…

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Case Studies

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Enfield Council: Public Consultation – PRS Licensing Scheme

Enfield Council commissioned M·E·L Research to independently design and deliver a public consultation on proposals to introduce a new Selective Licensing scheme for privately rented homes across parts of the borough. The Council has an established programme of property licensing aimed at improving housing standards and property management in the private rented sector (PRS). Existing licensing schemes in Enfield included a borough-wide Additional Licensing scheme for smaller Houses in Multiple Occupation and a Selective Licensing scheme covering…

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Housing Sector Market Research

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