Scottish Housing Regulator to publish compliance statuses for every landlord

The framework also revealed that it will publish an engagement plan for every social landlord in Scotland from April this year.

Another change introduced by the new framework will see the regulator require an ‘Annual Assurance Statement’ from every housing association.

This is supposed to confirm the association meets the standards and requirements or sets out what it is doing to address any areas where it is not compliant.

The regulator has also changed the indicators housing associations have to provide to it under the Scottish Social Housing Charter to demonstrate the performance of their businesses.

These include the percentage of adaptations paid for through grant funding and those funded directly by the landlord, and the split between general needs and supported housing for new lets.

The regulator said: “In essence, our changes are based around what responsible, well-run organisations are already doing to assure themselves that they are delivering for their tenants and other customers.

“We aim to only ask for information that landlords should already be collecting and using for their own purposes. Our changes therefore should not result in any significant additional burden for these businesses.”

Annette Finnan, co-chair of the Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers, said: “The regulator asked councils and housing associations as well as tenants and other service users about how best to regulate public sector housing services.

“They have clearly listened to the points the sector has made and the concerns that have been raised. We look forward to working with the SHR to ensure that services across the sector continue to improve.”