What are tenant satisfaction surveys, and how can they help you as a landlord?

In this article, we’ll cover:

• What is tenant satisfaction, and what drives it?
• 10+ tenant satisfaction survey questions for residential and commercial tenants
• Why do you need to have regular tenant surveys?
• How do you ask a tenant for feedback?

Want to try this template for free? Sign up with SurveySparrow for free!

What is tenant satisfaction?

A landlord’s job includes:

• Keeping the property in good repair.
• Maintaining the safety of the property.
• Managing tenants’ complaints effectively.
• Communicating with tenants helpfully and with courtesy.
• Taking an active role in managing the community.

Tenant satisfaction indicates how well the landlord is meeting these expectations.

What drives tenant satisfaction?

According to a report by the University of Reading, tenant loyalty is based on the feeling that the property provides value for money. In other words, the rent and service charges are worth it.

Some of the aspects that drive this feeling of ‘value for money’ are:

1. The building itself
2. The location
3. The property amenities
4. Ease of the renting/leasing process
5. Repairs and maintenance
6. Listening to and acting on tenant feedback
7. Empathy and professionalism of the property manager/landlord

These factors will decide your tenant’s willingness to recommend your property to others.

Here’s where tenant satisfaction surveys come in handy. By helping landlords with feedback on improving their property and services, they improve tenant satisfaction and retention.

10+ tenant satisfaction survey questions for residential and commercial tenants

Not sure how to make tenant satisfaction surveys? Check out our customizable survey template below.

1. Which block/floor/apartment number are you living in?

2. How long have you lived in <block/floor/apartment number>?

3. Housing/office amenities: Please rate the following areas of the property: water, electricity, Wi-Fi, fittings, furnishings, etc.

4. How satisfied are you with our housing/office maintenance services?

5. Community amenities: Please rate the following areas of the property: clubhouse/gym/pantry/parking/property appearance/lawn maintenance, etc.

6. How satisfied are you with our community maintenance services?

7. How do you pay rent? 

8. How easy was it to do the following:

• Signing up for a tenancy
• Helpfulness of the staff
• The allocation process
• Accessing the tenant portal and/or paying rent?
• Requesting maintenance

9. Please rate our security personnel on the following: Responsiveness, courtesy, follow-through

10. Please rate management on the following: Responsiveness, courtesy, follow-through

Bonus question: Do you have any additional comments, complaints, or suggestions for improvement? Please use this space.

Why do you need regular tenant satisfaction surveys?

1. Satisfied tenants stay longer, and they also recommend you to others.
2. Happy tenants contribute to a welcoming community environment. This, in turn, attracts other prospective tenants.
3. Using tenant satisfaction questionnaires regularly to check in on them makes them feel valued. Such tenants often return the favor with positive word-of-mouth and reviews.
4. Tenant satisfaction surveys are valuable opportunities for data collection – the kind of data you can use to refine your tenant’s experience.
5. Regular tenant feedback can help you identify consistent concerns or ongoing trends regarding the property or services.
6. Sharing the survey results lets tenants see how well their landlord is doing.
7. Tenants can have sensible suggestions for improvements that benefit everyone. This helps spark ideas for tenant satisfaction measures.

Remember our tenant satisfaction drivers? According to tenant satisfaction data by MEL Research, two drivers always play a role in overall customer satisfaction:

5. Repairs and maintenance

6. Listening to and acting on tenant feedback

Suppose maintenance issues have been plaguing your property. In that case, you might want to get a survey software with ticketing functionality, like SurveySparrow.

You can turn unhappy responses into tickets and assign them to the right staff members for fixing. That way, your tenants will have greater transparency regarding their maintenance requests.

Please create a free account below to give it a try. Bonus: you can also try out all SurveySparrow features and survey templates FREE for fourteen days.

How do you ask a tenant for feedback?

Schedule a tenant satisfaction survey.

People tend to disagree on the time, but one thing is clear: you must run at least one tenant satisfaction survey every year.

Your time can be at the start of the year or during a lease renewal. It can be during rent payment or when the lease expires and the tenant is ready to move out. Software like SurveySparrow has a ‘Set Reminder’ feature that lets you send survey reminders so you never miss out on feedback.

Time your tenant satisfaction survey

For example, you don’t want to survey your tenants just as they move in (or out).

Moving is hectic, and you will inevitably get hurriedly scribbled half-finished responses. Your best bet is to wait until they have settled down.

Avoid the pain of paperwork.

An online survey is a mutually convenient way to get feedback. The landlord can share it at a click, and the tenants can complete it on their phones or while commuting to work.

You can use online survey software like SurveySparrow or make your own Google Form. If you use survey software, you can share the survey via SMS, email, or even a QR code (depending on your platform). You also get access to exciting survey types and templates.

Use low-effort question types in the tenant survey.

To increase your finish rate, try to limit open-ended questions. They require more mental effort, so they take longer to complete.

Instead, you can use cut-and-dry question types like opinion scales, ratings, matrixes, and picture choices, which are easy to answer. Then, you can add an open-ended question for “other suggestions” feedback at the end. This lets tenants elaborate on all the feedback they couldn’t cover in the survey.

Give a little motivation to participate.

Tenants leaving your property may need a little motivation to participate in your survey. Consider gamifying your form with a survey reward – like a coupon or an Amazon voucher.

Moreover, this could also help convince a tenant to re-sign their lease – if they had the assurance that you would use their feedback to make property improvements.

Wrapping up

According to the National Multifamily Housing Council in the US, 44.1 million American households are renters. 1 in every 5 people rent from a private landlord in the UK.

With over 2.6 million landlords in the UK alone, landlords who regularly improve their tenant experience better retain the tenants. And the only way to do this is through consistent feedback.

• Not sure which survey app to use for this? Check out our list of the top 12 online survey apps.
• If you struggle with collecting rent on time, you might want to add a payment form to your tenant portal. Check out this Rent Payment Form.
• Want to verify a prospective tenant’s rental history? Try our Rental History Verification Form.

Parvathi Vijayamohan

Growth Marketer at SurveySparrow

Fledgling growth marketer. Cloud watcher. Aunty to a naughty beagle.