Publications
Rented Sector Reform: Landlord and Tenant Engagement Questionnaire & Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022 Update
Rented Sector Reform
As set out in this year’s Programme for Government, the First Minister reaffirmed our commitment to delivering a New Deal for Tenants by creating new tenants’ rights and powers for the introduction of a system of long term rent controls for the private rented sector. To support that, and to continue our engagement with stakeholders across landlord, tenant and investor groups, we have launched an engagement questionnaire seeking to ask landlords and tenants a range of questions on our proposed reforms to the rented sector.
The questionnaire can be accessed via Citizen Space, the Scottish Government’s consultation platform, and will be open to responses for 4 weeks, closing on Friday 27 October. You can access it here:
https://consult.gov.scot/better-homes-division/rented-sector-reform-landlord-and-tenant
A supporting paper, providing more detail on our current proposals for a New Deal for Tenants, has been published to help landlords and tenants who wish to respond to the questionnaire.
The Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022
The Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022 came into force in October 2022 and introduced extra protections for tenants. The Act aims to protect tenants by temporarily:
- restricting private sector landlords from increasing the amount of rent they can charge private sector tenants;
- placing certain restrictions on enforcement of evictions from residential tenancies in both the private and social rented sectors; and
- balancing these restrictions with safeguards for those private landlords who may be facing particular cost pressures or financial hardship
The rent cap applies to most tenants in the private rented sector.
The rent cap was able to be expired in the social sector following a voluntary agreement being reached on rent setting with the sector.
The rent cap was able to be suspended in the purpose built student accommodation sector due to evidence that the rent setting process for the academic year meant that the rent cap had minimal impact.
The evictions protections continue to apply across all sectors.
The Scottish Parliament has approved a final six month extension of the Act, meaning that the following measures will be in place until 31 March 2024 at the latest:
most in-tenancy private sector rent increases will continue to be capped at 3% for any 12-month period;
- enforcement of evictions will continue to be paused for six months for most tenants, except in a number of specified circumstances; and
- private sector landlords who may be facing particular cost pressures or financial hardship can apply for approval to increase rent by up to 6% to help cover certain increases in costs in a specified time period where these costs can be evidenced
You can view more information on the measures here:
Housing Affordability Research
The Scottish Government has commissioned social research agency The Lines Between to explore experiences of housing affordability among renters in Scotland.
We are looking for individuals who currently rent a residential property in Scotland (either through a private or social landlord) to take part in an online focus group or interview exploring:
- what affordable housing means to you
- your experiences of housing affordability/unaffordability
- factors affecting your ability to meet housing costs
- your housing aspirations for the future
The focus groups and interviews will take place in mid-late August and will be scheduled in the evenings.
All participants will receive a £50 shopping voucher as a thank you for taking part. Participants can choose from Amazon, Aldi, Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s or Morrisons; no cash payments will be offered.
If you are interested in participating in the research, please complete the following form. It is a brief questionnaire which contains questions about your demographics (e.g. age, gender) and housing/financial situation. This will help us to determine eligibility for the study and ensure a diverse sample of participants. Once you have completed the form, one of our researchers will contact you to let you know if you have been selected to take part and arrange a quick call to discuss arrangements if so.
Click here https://forms.gle/46ui9fagJGhdkny78 then scroll to the bottom where you will see a button with NEXT, click on that and you will get the form
If you have any questions about the research, please contact Abi Sharp, Senior Researcher at The Lines Between via abi@thelinesbetween.co.uk or 07535 061083.
Region Chair and social landlord group from North East celebrates TPAS award wins
A North East tenant and social landlord group celebrated success last month at the Tenant Participation Advisory Service (TPAS) National Good Practice Awards ceremony in Clydebank.
North East Tenants, Residents and Landlords Together (NETRALT) won Best Practice in Developing Communities award for its groundbreaking work involving young people from across Aberdeen, while NETRALT member and Castlehill Housing Association tenant Colin Stewart won the coveted Alan Ferguson Tenant Champion of the Year award.
NETRALT embarked upon an innovative city-wide project to engage and collaborate with young people via research aimed at exploring youth knowledge and aspirations.
The project involved staff from Aberdeen City Council, Aberdeen Foyer, Castlehill, Grampian and Langstane Housing Associations, as well as young people from Aberdeen City Youth Council (now Aberdeen City Youth Movement) and the Scottish Youth Parliament.
The report will be used in Aberdeen’s Local Housing Strategy, as well as being a link to a child-friendly city and will make an impact on services and the resources that young people are reliant on.
NETRALT’s co-chairs Katie Taylor and Catherine Coutts were delighted to accept this prestigious award on behalf of the group and were joined by one of the young people involved, Rebecca Cuthbert.
Catherine Coutts said: “We engaged with young people, not just as a demographic to fill a quota; this went way beyond youth involvement and co-production. Young people designed, distributed, compiled and launched the survey to ensure that captured views were authentic. The survey achieved its aims, with 595 responses forming the basis of a report authored entirely by young people themselves.”
Katie Taylor added: “Housing is such an important topic; it has a direct impact on young people and they should have a say in what happens. It is vital that they feel their voice is listened to and this project is step towards establishing a city youth housing network to ensure this happens.”
Castlehill Registered Tenants Organisation (CaRTO) chair Colin Stewart has helped support the organisation to get involved with scheme inspections and to support communities via CaRTO’s funding scheme.
Colin is always a friendly face when he meets tenants and is able to help with his knowledge and lived experience of being a social housing tenant.
An active member of NETRALT and a well-kent face throughout not just the North East, but nationally, due to his role as chair of the North of Scotland Regional Network, he is also the only tenant member of the Housing to 2040 Strategic Board.
Colin has spoken in parliament to communicate tenant comments and evidence to the Local Government, Housing & Planning Committee to inform its consideration of the first report to Parliament on the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act.
Tenant participation officer Catherine, who nominated Colin for this award, explained: “Colin is a force of nature and a worthy winner of this award because of his unfailing enthusiasm and dedication to the social housing sector and the wider community, from grassroots level to national strategic board level. His voluntary work has resulted in positive changes and improvements to many people’s lives across Scotland.”
More winners from the event can be found here.
Committees 2023-24
Region 1
Office Bearers
- Colin Stewart – Aberdeen City – Chair
- Liz Richardson – Highlands – Vice-Chair
Committee Members
- Eric Spence – Argyll & Bute
- Jackie Budgen – Highlands
- Kath Fennel – Orkney
- Linda Lennie – Orkney
Region 2
Office Bearers
- Gordon Saunders – Scottish Borders – Chair
- Irina Lazarenki – City of Edinburgh – Vice Chair
Committee members
- Alan Dalby – Fife
- Bill Campbell – Fife
- Isabella Vint – City of Edinburgh
Region 3
Office Bearers
- Anne Cameron – South Ayrshire – Chair
- Bruce Cuthbertson – East Ayrshire – Vice-Chair
Committee Members
- Norma Ferguson – North Ayrshire
- Margaret Dymond – Renfrewshire
Region 4
Office bearers
- Shona Gorman – Falkirk – Chair
- June Anderson – Clackmannanshire – Vice-Chair
Committee Members
- Frances McGonagle – West Dunbartonshire
- June Todd – West Dunbartonshire
- John Duffy – North Lanarkshire
- Jeanette Arneil – South Lanarkshire
- Donna Murray – South Lanarkshire
- William Derrick – Stirling
All Regions AGM – Minutes – 03 Jun 23
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230603-AGM-Minutes-R4All Regions – Minutes – 19 Apr 23
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Housing to 2040 Strategic Board
A strategic board to lead progress towards the delivery of Scotland’s 20-year housing plan will meet for the first time today.
The Housing to 2040 strategy was developed following extensive engagement with the housing sector, wider stakeholders and the public, and sets out a vision for what Scotland’s homes and communities should look like by the end of 2040.
Including representatives from housing providers, landlords, housing developers and tenant organisations, the Housing to 2040 Strategic Board will meet every six months.
The board will be co-chaired by housing secretary Shona Robison and COSLA’s community wellbeing spokesperson, Councillor Maureen Chalmers.
The strategic board membership in full:
- Shona Robison, cabinet secretary for social justice, housing and local government (co-chair)
- Councillor Maureen Chalmers, COSLA spokesperson for community wellbeing (co-chair)
- Patrick Harvie, minister for zero carbon buildings, active travel and tenants’ rights
- Michael Cameron, chief executive, Scottish Housing Regulator
- Sally Thomas, chief executive, Scottish Federation of Housing Associations
- John Mills, co-chair, Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers
- Jane Wood, chief executive, Homes for Scotland
- John Blackwood, chief executive, Scottish Association of Landlords
- Colin Stewart, chair, North of Scotland Regional Network
- Callum Chomczuk, national director (Scotland), Chartered Institute of Housing
- Chris Birt, associate director for Scotland, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
- Sean Neill, director local government, housing and planning, Scottish Government
Ms Robison said: “The actions in Housing to 2040 set out how we will deliver on our vision for a Scotland where homes are warm, safe and affordable for everyone, standards are the same across all tenures, people have access to green space and essential services, and where child poverty, fuel poverty and homelessness have been eradicated.
“I’m grateful to the representatives who are joining the strategic board, which will oversee the delivery of Housing to 2040 and work together to progress towards the vision set out in the strategy.”
Councillor Chalmers said: “The Housing to 2040 strategy sets the context for housing across all of Scotland’s local communities. Therefore, it is of great value that the new Strategic Board’s membership has a range of housing stakeholders to provide oversight, as well as to help provide advice on navigating challenges to progress our shared housing aims.”
Homes for Scotland has welcomed the appointment of its chief executive Jane Wood to the Strategic Board.
Ms Wood said: “Housing is fundamental to Scotland’s social wellbeing and economic success. From health and education to jobs and investment, it impacts every area of our lives but we simply don’t have enough homes. This is clearly demonstrated by the shortfall of 110,000 homes that has been accumulated since 2008 yet delivery challenges have never been greater.
“With strong interdependencies between tenures, home builders across all segments of the housing market have a critical role to play in achieving the objectives set out by the Scottish Government and recognition of this through my appointment is very much welcomed.
“The Strategic Board is a critical body which must focus on creating effective policies which deliver both economically and socially, and I look forward to working collaboratively with my Board colleagues to do this.”
All Regions – Minutes – 08 Feb 23
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The Scottish Social Housing Charter 2022
The Charter helps to improve the quality and value of services provided by social landlords in Scotland. It sets the standards and outcomes that all social landlords should aim to achieve when performing their housing activities.
https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-social-housing-charter-november-2022/documents/
scottish-social-housing-charterRent Setting and Affordability Survey for Tenants
TPAS Scotland and The Regional Networks have come together to consult with tenants and landlords on how social housing rent is set in Scotland.
This is the tenants version.
We would appreciate you giving your views by filling in the enclosed survey to help identify how landlords are setting rent, what rent setting best practice looks like, and how tenants can get more involved in the rent setting process.
The survey should take less than ten minutes to complete and will cover many aspects of the rent setting processes. If you require assistance completing the survey, please call TPAS Scotland on 0800 049 5761.
Please click the blue button below to get started. Thank you for your time.
Regulator has just published their report on the Scottish Social Housing Charter
The Scottish Housing Regulator have just published their latest report on the Scottish Social Housing Charter. You can find the report and details of the headline findings here: