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Regulator bars for-profit housing associations from entering Scottish sector
Several for-profit housing associations have been barred from entering the Scottish social housing sector by the regulator, Inside Housing can reveal.
For-profit housing associations have been denied entry to the Scottish social housing sector by the regulator #ukhousingIn an interview with Inside Housing, Michael Cameron, chief executive of the Scottish Housing Regulator, revealed that “a number” of for-profits had attempted to register but had been refused.
Mr Cameron said that registration criteria specifies that social landlords in Scotland must be organisations that “do not trade for profit”.
Inside Housing understands that some for-profit providers attempted to register as not-for-profits in Scotland, but these applications have been rejected.
In Scotland, unlike in England and Wales, for-profit companies are not permitted to register as providers of social housing.
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Mr Cameron told Inside Housing: “A number of potential providers have approached us about registering as a social landlord in Scotland. We have directed them to the statutory and
He said: “The purpose of this requirement is to ensure that any surplus generated is retained in order to help the landlord to fulfil its objectives, rather than being distributed out with the organisation. So we would need to be assured on that point.”
He added: “Another key consideration for us in any registration is that we will be able to regulate effectively the body seeking registration, in order to protect the interests of tenants and other service users, the social housing assets, and public and private investment.”
In England, for-profit providers of social housing have been rapidly increasing in size and number over the past two years.
The English regulator’s latest Statistical Data Return revealed that the number of homes owned by for-profits increased by 149% in 2017/18, faster than it had in all previous years combined.
These have included registered providers owned by private equity funds, house builders and real estate investment trusts, among other models.
The National Housing Federation has been at the forefront of the English sector’s attempts to protect the definition of the term ‘housing association’, which it argues should be restricted to not-for-profit organisations.
Some in the social housing sector are concerned that for-profit providers could take away opportunities from existing landlords or that they could damage the reputation of the sector.
The English regulator, however, has no power to prevent for-profit providers from registering south of the border.
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