Tenant Satisfaction Survey: 18 Questions to Improve Retention & ROI

Tenant satisfaction surveys help landlords and property managers understand what’s working, what’s broken, and what’s driving tenants to renew—or leave. From maintenance response times and safety to communication and amenities, the right questions reveal exactly where improvements will have the biggest impact on retention and ROI.

In this guide, you’ll find 18+ proven tenant satisfaction survey questions, best practices for collecting honest feedback, and a free, ready-to-use tenant satisfaction survey template you can deploy in minutes for residential and commercial properties.

You could be managing a single property or an entire portfolio, this article gives you everything you need to measure tenant satisfaction, improve the tenant experience, and increase long-term retention.

What is tenant satisfaction?

Tenant satisfaction measures how well property managers and landlords meet occupants’ expectations and needs.

A landlord’s job includes multiple responsibilities that directly impact tenant satisfaction:

• 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.

Free Tenant Satisfaction Survey Template

Use this ready-to-ship tenant satisfaction questionnaire for residential and commercial tenants.

Tenant Satisfaction Survey Template

Use This Template

What Drives Tenant Satisfaction?

According to a report by the University of Reading,  tenant loyalty is fundamentally based on the feeling that the property provides value for money. In other words, tenants remain satisfied when they feel the rent and service charges are worth what they receive in return.

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

1. The building itself - structural integrity, aesthetic appeal, and functionality
2. The location - proximity to amenities, transportation, and safety of the area
3. Property amenities - features that enhance living or working experience
4. Ease of the renting/leasing process - from application to moving in
5. Repairs and maintenance - speed and quality of repair services
6. Listening to and acting on tenant feedback - responsiveness to concerns
7. Empathy and professionalism of the property manager/landlord - communication quality

Every driver listed above can be measured with the right survey questions. 

Measure Tenant Satisfaction with SurveySparrow

These factors collectively determine your tenant’s willingness to recommend your property to others and, more importantly, their decision to renew their lease.

Tenant satisfaction surveys provide a structured way to gather feedback on these crucial factors, helping property managers and landlords identify improvement opportunities that enhance retention and property value.

Create professional tenant satisfaction surveys in minutes - start free with SurveySparrow!

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18+ Essential Tenant Satisfaction Survey Questions

Basic Information Questions

1. Which block/floor/apartment number are you currently occupying?
   • This helps identify location-specific issues across your property
2. How long have you lived in your current unit?
   • Less than 6 months
   • 6-12 months
   • 1-2 years
   • 3-5 years
   • More than 5 years
3. What type of lease do you currently have?
   • Month-to-month
   • 6-month lease
   • Annual lease
   • Multi-year lease
   • Other (please specify)

Property Condition Questions

1. Please rate the following aspects of your unit: (Scale: Very Dissatisfied to Very Satisfied)
   • Water quality and pressure
   • Electrical systems and outlets
   • Internet/WiFi connectivity
   • Fixtures and fittings
   • Furnishings (if applicable)
   • Heating and cooling systems
   • Sound insulation between units
   • Natural lighting
2. How satisfied are you with the following aspects of the property’s exterior?
   • Building appearance
   • Landscaping and grounds
   • Parking facilities
   • Common area cleanliness
   • Trash disposal areas

Maintenance Service Questions

1. How satisfied are you with our maintenance services?
   • Very satisfied
   • Satisfied
   • Neutral
   • Dissatisfied
   • Very dissatisfied
2. How would you rate our maintenance team on the following factors?
   • Response time to requests
   • Quality of repairs
   • Professionalism of maintenance staff
   • Communication about maintenance visits
   • Cleanliness after completing work
3. How would you rate the community amenities? (Scale: Poor to Excellent)
   • Clubhouse/Common room
   • Fitness center/Gym
   • Swimming pool (if applicable)
   • Outdoor spaces
   • Shared facilities (conference rooms, lounges)
   • Bicycle storage 

Administrative Process Questions

1. How do you currently pay your rent?
   • Online portal
   • Bank transfer
   • Check
   • Cash
   • Automatic payment
   • Other (please specify)
2. How easy was it to complete the following processes? (Scale: Very Difficult to Very Easy)
   • Signing the lease agreement
   • Understanding lease terms and conditions
   • Receiving assistance from staff during move-in
   • Accessing the tenant portal
   • Setting up rent payments
   • Requesting maintenance
   • Communicating with management
3. How well did we explain the following aspects when you moved in?
   • Building rules and policies
   • Emergency procedures
   • Maintenance request process
   • Amenity access and hours
   • Package delivery procedures

Security and Management Questions

1. Please rate our security personnel on the following factors:
   • Responsiveness to security concerns
   • Courtesy and professionalism
   • Thoroughness in monitoring the property
   • Visibility and presence
2. Please rate property management on the following factors:
   • Responsiveness to inquiries and concerns
   • Courtesy and professionalism
   • Follow-through on commitments
   • Proactive communication
   • Problem-solving abilities
   • Transparency about policies and changes 

Overall Satisfaction and Feedback Questions

1. How likely are you to renew your lease when it expires?[NEW QUESTION]
   • Definitely will renew
   • Probably will renew
   • Unsure at this time
   • Probably will not renew
   • Definitely will not renew
2. How likely are you to recommend this property to friends or colleagues? (NPS question, scale 0-10)
3. What do you like most about living/working in this property? (Open-ended)
4. If you could change three things about the property or management, what would they be? (Open-ended)

18. Do you have any additional comments, complaints, or suggestions for improvement? (Open-ended)

Turn These Questions Into a Live Tenant Survey

Don’t copy-paste and manage responses manually. Use SurveySparrow to deploy these questions as a mobile-friendly survey, send reminders, and track responses in one place.

➡️ Use These Questions in a Free Survey

Tenant Satisfaction Survey Template

Use This Template

Why do you need regular tenant satisfaction surveys?

Implementing regular tenant satisfaction surveys delivers multiple benefits that directly impact your property’s performance and profitability:

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:

1. Repairs and maintenance

2. 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.

Collecting feedback is only half the job. Acting on it is what improves retention. 

Turn tenant feedback into action with SurveySparrow; create tickets, assign owners, and close the feedback loop automatically.

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.

Make tenant feedback effortless—for you and your tenants with a free account.

How to Analyze and Act on Tenant Survey Results 

Collecting data is just the first step. If you want some real value, analysis and implementation is the way::

1. Identify Priority Issues

Use a systematic approach to prioritize feedback:

• High-impact, quick-fix issues: Address immediately (broken amenities, security concerns)
• High-impact, complex issues: Develop action plans with clear timelines (major repairs, policy changes)
• Low-impact improvements: Schedule for future implementation
• Recurring themes: These often indicate systemic issues requiring structural solutions

2. Create an Action Plan

Develop a structured response to survey findings:

• Assign specific responsibility for each action item
• Set realistic timeframes for implementation
• Allocate necessary resources and budget
• Establish clear success metrics for each improvement

3. Communicate With Tenants

Close the feedback loop by informing tenants about:

• Key findings from the survey
• Specific improvements being implemented
• Timeline for changes
• How their feedback influenced decisions

4. Track Implementation Progress

Monitor improvement implementation using:

• Project management software
• Regular team check-ins
• Implementation milestones
• Before/after metrics

5. Measure Impact

Conduct follow-up pulse surveys to:

• Assess satisfaction with specific improvements
• Measure overall satisfaction changes
• Identify any unintended consequences
• Gather feedback on implementation quality

Wrapping up

With millions of renters across the US and UK, tenant experience is no longer a “nice-to-have” — it’s a competitive advantage. Properties that listen, adapt, and improve based on real tenant feedback don’t just reduce churn — they build trust, loyalty, and long-term value.

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, with tenant satisfaction surveys. 

• 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.

Ready to Improve Tenant Satisfaction?