The Scottish Housing Regulator has today published a summary of the risks that it will focus on in its next annual risk assessment.
Last year the Regulator amended the approach to its annual risk assessment to take into account the impact of the pandemic on landlords’ performance. It will continue to do that this year and will seek to focus on the resilience of landlords. It will also continue with a focus on homelessness, performance, the quality of homes, social landlords’ plans to develop new, affordable housing and the financial health and governance in RSLs.
The Regulator’s annual risk assessment is the main way it works to protect the interests of tenants and service users. It informs the Regulator’s decision about what further information or assurance it needs from social landlords. The Regulator sets out how it will engage with each landlord in an engagement plan which it publishes on its website. For RSLs this will include a Regulatory Status. It will publish the outcomes from its risk assessment by the end of March 2022.
Helen Shaw, Assistant Director of Regulation said:
“Social landlords have faced unprecedented challenges over the past 18 months and have been at the forefront of efforts to support their tenants in such difficult times. It is likely that the impact of the pandemic will continue to be felt by social landlords for some time. And they will continue to face other challenges as they work to build back the services they provide for tenants, and meet wider challenges around for example climate change and the development of affordable new homes.”
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 eight Board members. More information about the Regulator can be found on its website at housingregulator.gov.scot
- SHR sets out how it regulates social landlords in its published framework – Regulation of Social Housing in Scotland.