A Consumer Perspective on Performance Indicators: The Local Housing Authority Reports to Tenants Regimes in England and Wales

Performance indicators were formally introduced into local authority housing management in England and Wales by Section 167(1) of the 1989 Local Government and Housing Act, which required local housing authorities to circulate annual Reports to Tenants (RTTs) containing information on performance indicators. In this paper, the background to the new regime is discussed, noting the absence of a consumer perspective on performance indicators in much of the research literature. There is an examination of the appropriateness of the concepts of client, customer, consumer, and citizen as descriptions of tenants. The reaction of tenants in England and Wales to the first year of RTTs is then discussed. The impact on tenants was minimal, and consumers did not use the information in the reports in the way central government might have hoped. The value to tenants of the growing number of RTTs regimes is questioned. The paper concludes with a criticism of the concept of tenants as consumers in the context of RTTs regimes, and points to the inherent conflicts within these regimes.