City of York Council's annual survey of tenant satisfaction has shown that overall satisfaction remains high, with 80 per cent of tenants stating that they are 'very' or 'fairly' satisfied.

The housing services monitor, a postal survey, was mailed out in September to 1,800 council tenants, whose names had been selected at random. It also showed that the number of tenants who said that they were 'very dissatisfied' has been reduced by half - from 6 per cent to 3 per cent. Meanwhile, 76 per cent of respondents agreed (strongly or slightly) that the council is a good landlord.

The condition of the home was described as 'good' or 'very good' by 80 per cent of residents - an increase of one per cent from last year.

There was a decline - from 77 per cent to 67 per cent - in satisfaction with the maintenance of outdoor communal areas. However, when residents were asked about particular aspects of outside space satisfaction with: - grass cutting improved from 67 to 71 per cent - the maintenance of shrubs and trees rose from 59 per cent to 66 per cent - the removal of graffiti improved by 18 per cent (from 43 per cent in 2005 to 61 per cent this year).

More than three quarters of those surveyed (76 per cent) are satisfied with their neighbourhood as a place to live. This is an improvement of 2 per cent on the 2005 figure. Whilst 51 per cent of respondents consider noises nuisance to be a problem in the area and 36 per cent cited neighbour problems as an issue, only 16 per cent had reported nuisance or disturbance from neighbours during the last 12 months. One third of those who did report a problem were satisfied with the action taken, which is the highest rating since 2002.

The proportion of tenants satisfied with the repairs and maintenance service has increase by 2 per cent, from 77 per cent in 2005 to 79 per cent in 2006.

Eight out of ten of the tenants who received a copy of the survey took the time to respond. The findings from the survey provide information on how services can be improved and issues of concern to tenants can be addressed.

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."