Navy Public Private Venture (PPV) housing residents expressed a marked improvement in housing satisfaction according to survey results from the annual Resident Satisfaction Survey (RSS) conducted in the fall of 2019. Even with the upward trend, Commander, Navy Installations Command (CNIC) continues to focus on improving the PPV housing program.

“We remain committed to providing each PPV housing resident what they need, even during the uncertainty caused by COVID-19,” said Vice Adm. Mary M. Jackson, commander CNIC. “While an increase in average overall scores indicates that our corrective actions have contributed towards addressing our deficiencies, it is each and every family’s experience that matters most. We welcome candid feedback from our warfighters and their families as we seek to improve our culture of excellence and accountability.”

Resident Participation is Key

The Fall 2019 response rate of 35.8 percent increased to near the historical average response rate for the annual RSS, which is 10 percent higher than the “out of cycle” RSS administered by the Navy in April-May 2019. The 35.8 percent response rate is higher than what is required to meet statistical significance for multifamily housing, and serves as a reflection of residents’ willingness to express opinions.

“I encourage every resident to take their housing surveys and give us feedback whenever your RSS is scheduled,” said Greg Wright, CNIC housing director. “With increased resident participation, we gain better insight into where CNIC and our housing partners are getting it right and where we need continued focus. The 10 percent increase in response rate is really the best news out from the survey because it means we have a clearer picture of where we are at with improvements to PPV housing.”

In addition to the annual RSS, PPV housing residents also have the opportunity to provide feedback about their satisfaction with move-in, move-out, and maintenance work orders by using the PPV online portal or smart phone app at any time throughout the year.  The Navy monitors these responses to measure project performance and to be aware of issues to which the Navy can respond.  Resident participation in these surveys is extremely valuable because the information is used to help improve the overall performance of the project – we depend on residents to let us know what is working well or what needs improvement. 

“Work order survey responses provide Navy Housing service centers, installation commanding officers, and PPV property managers immediate data on quality and timeliness so they can identify and solve issues as soon as possible,” said Wright.  “The RSS is valuable, but residents have multiple ways to provide actionable feedback throughout the year.”

Fall 2019 RSS

The annual RSS, independently conducted by CEL & Associates, focuses on three satisfaction indexes – Overall Satisfaction, Property Satisfaction and Service Satisfaction. These indices provide CNIC with a snapshot of the PPV residents’ opinions about the condition of the homes, neighborhoods and the quality of the services provided. The average scores (on a 100-point scale) across the Navy’s 39,000-plus family PPV homes are:

•           Overall Satisfaction Index Results: 80.2

•           Property Index Results: 76.5

•           Service Index Results: 82.5

These scores reflect satisfaction with PPV housing experience for residents. CNIC uses these satisfaction scores to compare PPV performance to comparable properties in the commercial sector. This can be a useful measure, and is one of several used to evaluate military privatized housing performance and the residents’ experience.

The full 2019 PPV RSS results can be viewed: Click Here.

The PPV partner property managers are required to work with every installation housing office to develop action plans to address any neighborhood survey results that scored less than 75 points on the Fall 2019 RSS. Navy leadership oversees the implementation of the action plans, which are designed to address specific local issues.  

Program-wide Updates

The Navy is making program-wide improvements to regain resident trust, reinforce Navy oversight, and exercise active leadership, which include:

• CNIC and Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) hired 129 of the 183 newly authorized housing management specialists, housing inspectors, quality assurance specialists, and project oversight specialists as of April 10th.
• The Secretary of Defense and Military Department Secretaries all signed the Military Housing Privatization Initiative Tenant Bill of Rights.
• Navy and Marine Corps leaders met with privatized housing company executives at Joint Base Anacostia Bolling on Feb. 5th, 2020, the fifth periodic session in the last 12 months, as part of the Department of the Navy’s strategy to develop long-term improvements across the enterprise.
• The Navy developed and continues to expand an electronic data warehouse and reporting system to monitor project performance in near real-time. The system enables the Navy to monitor project performance in key areas including health and safety issues, timeliness of work-order service calls, and monitoring maintenance performance for new residents at change of occupancy. 

Recent Efforts to Combat Community Spread of Coronavirus

CNIC and our PPV partners began making adjustments to operations in early 2020 to combat the spread of the coronavirus and ensure the safety of families and both work forces while maintaining essential services. To help prevent the spread of the virus, all of the Navy’s PPV partners have implemented adjustments until further notice:

• Emergency and urgent maintenance orders are still being performed.
• Routine maintenance orders are being deferred.
• Common areas have been closed and resident events have been suspended.
• Staffing, leasing activities and office hours have been reduced.

For more information about Navy Housing, go to www.cnic.navy.mil/ffr/housing.html or visit your Navy Housing Service Center.

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