Regulator report shows more people in temporary accommodation and higher rent arrears, as landlords respond to the Coronavirus pandemic

The Scottish Housing Regulator today published the second in its new series of monthly dashboard reports to help understand the impact of the Coronavirus on social landlords and to support the work of the Social Housing Resilience Group.

Since April, all social landlords provide the Regulator with a monthly return of a small set of key measures that focus on the main areas of impact on landlords’ operations.

The figures released today show a growing number of people in temporary accommodation: at the end of May there were 13,175 households in temporary accommodation, up by 7.5% on the previous month.  The figures also show that at the end of May rent arrears stood at over £156 million, up by more than £8.5 million – or 5.8% – from April.  

Michael Cameron, the Regulator’s chief executive, said “These latest figures show the increasing pressures facing the social housing sector, people who are homeless  and tenants and service users in the context of the Coronavirus pandemic. More people are now in temporary accommodation and are waiting on a permanent home. And more tenants are struggling to pay their rent.

Over the coming months, we will continue to monitor and report on the ongoing impact of the pandemic on social landlords to help support the work of the Scottish Government, the Social Housing Resilience Group, and the social housing sector.”

The published dashboards are available on the Regulator’s website.

Landlords are due to submit the next monthly return for June on 7th July.

The Regulator has committed to continue to work closely with the Social Housing Resilience Group to monitor the impact of the pandemic on landlords.

View the dashboard here.