The Scottish Housing Regulator has today set out its plans to carry out a comprehensive review of the Annual Return on Charter (ARC) during 2024/25.
To support this review, the Regulator has established advisory groups to work with it to consider the current ARC indicators and help it to develop appropriate and meaningful indicators on tenant and resident safety, including new indicators on damp and mould.
The advisory groups will include relevant experts and people from the social housing sector and the first meeting of these groups will take place at the start of May 2024.
The Regulator will use the feedback it received about the ARC indicators during its recent framework review. It also hopes to include the development of appropriate indicators for the Social Housing Net Zero Standard following the conclusion of the Scottish Government’s consultation on the proposed Standard.
The Regulator will consult formally on the revised ARC indicators later this year. The new ARC will take place for collection year 2025/26, and landlords will make the first return under the new indicators in May 2026. The existing ARC will continue until then.
Helen Shaw, Director of Regulation said:
“The ARC allows landlords to report on how well they are delivering services to their tenants. The membership of the advisory groups is drawn from across the sector, including relevant experts. We look forward to working with the advisory groups as we review the current indicators. We will also ensure that we involve tenants and other service users as we develop the proposed new indicators to ensure the information we collect reflects what is important to them.”
Notes to editors
- The Scottish Housing Regulator was established on 1 April 2011 under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2010. Its objective is to safeguard and promote the interests of tenants and others who use local authority and RSL housing services. The Regulator operates independently of Scottish Ministers and is accountable directly to the Scottish Parliament. It assumed its full regulatory responsibilities on 1 April 2012. The Regulator consists of the Chair and seven Board members. More information about the Regulator can be found on its website at www.housingregulator.gov.scot
- SHR sets out how it regulates social landlords in its published framework – Regulation of Social Housing in Scotland.
- The Scottish Social Housing Charter was first introduced by the Scottish Government in March 2012. It sets the standards and outcomes that all social landlords should aim to achieve when performing their housing activities. Landlords must provide accurate information on the Charter indicators and contextual indicators to us through their Annual Return on the Charter (ARC).
- The Regulator publishes more information about the Scottish Social Housing Charter on its website here: About the Scottish Social Housing Charter | Scottish Housing Regulator
- More information about the Regulator’s new Regulatory Framework is available on its website at Regulatory Framework | Scottish Housing Regulator