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Scottish regulator extends annual statement deadlines as part of COVID-19 changes
Social landlords in Scotland will be given an extra month to complete their annual assurance statements as part of a series of changes introduced by the Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR) in response to the coronavirus crisis.
The deadline for submitting annual assurance statements has been extended from October to November this year, while the deadline for reporting performance against the Scottish Social Housing Charter to tenants and service users has been extended from October to December.
The SHR is asking social landlords to submit their annual assurance statements before November when they are able to, in order to allow the regulator to proceed with the annual risk assessment at the earliest time possible.
Annual assurance statements were first introduced by the SHR last year and require social landlords to proactively identify any areas of non-compliance within the organisation.
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This year, social landlords are being asked to identify any non-compliance that is directly due to the pandemic and distinguish this from non-compliance that is for other reasons.
To support landlords with the various changes to the framework, the SHR has published new advice for landlords on completing annual assurance statements and business planning.
George Walker, chair at the SHR, said: “We’ve made these adjustments to enable us to continue to fulfil our statutory objective and support landlords through these unprecedented times.
“I hope the statement and guidance we have published today help give clarity for landlords, tenants and other service users about how we will regulate in the coming months.
“We will keep the position in this statement under review to respond to any significant developments in relation to the national response to the pandemic.
“I would like to thank all of our stakeholders for their contributions and engagement through the consultation on the changes we proposed. We will continue to work closely with landlords to understand the challenges being experienced by tenants, people who are homeless and other service users.”
