Below are the frequently asked questions landlords have asked about our Social Housing Charter Technical Guidance. We've published these questions to support landlords in making their Annual Return on the Scottish Social Housing Charter.
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General |
My reporting year is not 1st April to 31st March. Is that ok? Yes. Please just be clear in your return if this is the case. |
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General New March 2023 |
Have changes been made to the comments boxes at the end of each section in the online Portal form? Yes, we have amended the text to say:- Please use the comment field below to explain to the Regulator any notable improvements or deterioration in performance regarding the figures supplied in the ''Neighbourhood & community'' section. This gives greater clarity to landlords on the type of comments that should be submitted. We have also made the housing quality and maintenance comments box mandatory. This now says: Please use the comment field below to explain any notable improvements or deterioration in performance, or compliance with tenant and resident safety requirements regarding the figures supplied in the ''Housing quality and maintenance'' section. We are particularly interested in any non-compliance with electrical, gas and fire safety requirements and your plans to address these issues. |
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General New March 2023 |
Should lets to Ukrainian refugees be included in our ARC? If a SST or SSST is given to a Ukrainian household, this should be included in all the relevant indicators, including SHQS. If a landlord feels that this is adversely affecting their reported performance (for example if a landlord’s average re-let time has increased because properties have been set aside for Ukrainian households only), they can use the comments box to provide further information. For Indicator C2 (lets by source), this should be recorded as a ‘let from other sources’ unless one of the other sources are applicable. |
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All satisfaction |
We survey 25% of our tenants every quarter, can these results be ‘rolled up from one reporting year to the next? The quarterly survey results can be ‘rolled up’ for the reporting year only. Do not ‘roll up’ results from one reporting year to the next. |
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All satisfaction |
Can we provide context before asking a question e.g. neighbourhood management or value for money? Yes. |
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3 and 4 |
Should Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) with non-registered subsidiaries be reporting on complaints relating to the RSL only, the RSL’s complaints and the non-registered subsidiaries’ complaints separately, or the total complaints, including both the RSL’s and non-registered subsidiaries? Complaints made about any non-registered subsidiaries should not be included in the RSL’s ARC. The parent RSL may wish to keep a breakdown of the complaints for their own monitoring, but for reporting in the ARC, it would be the complaints relating to the RSL only. |
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3 and 4 |
Is a stage 1 complaint progressing to a stage 2 complaint only recorded as a stage 2 complaint? No, a stage 1 complaint which progresses to a stage 2 complaint should be recorded as a stage 1 complaint and a stage 2 complaint |
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6 New April 2023 |
When reporting compliance with element 45 (safe electrical systems) of SHQS, do we need to take account of the requirement to carry out EICRs every five years? The Scottish Government’s SHQS Technical Guidance confirms that ‘in order to demonstrate compliance with this element, landlords must organise electrical safety inspections by a competent person at intervals of no more than five years’. Landlords should report their performance as at 31 March each year. This means that we will consider that a property passes element 45 of SHQS if it has a valid EICR (i.e. done within the last five years) in place on 31 March, regardless of whether it was more than five years since the one before that was completed. If a landlord completes the check within the reporting year in which it is due, we won’t know if they have adhered to the requirement to complete the check within five years of the last one. We would therefore ask landlords to provide details of any incidences where the five year deadline was missed in the ‘housing quality and maintenance’ comments box, and also highlight any material issues of non-compliance in their Annual Assurance Statements. Accurate record keeping and robust systems and processes will be important for landlords to be able to assure themselves about their compliance with this and other duties placed upon them. |
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6
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Can you tell me where to find the most up to date guidance for reporting on SHQS energy efficiency? The Scottish Government’s SHQS Technical Guidance explains that, from 1 January 2021, if properties did not meet element 35 of SHQS they therefore did not meet EESSH. This means that if a property fails EESSH it cannot meet SHQS. So, we would expect landlords' figures to show SHQS fails at least equal to, but never less than EESSH fails. The Scottish Government has brought forward the review of EESSH2, which will be completed during 2023. To take account of this, the Scottish Government has put on hold temporarily both the 2025 and 2032 EESSH milestones. The Scottish Government’s EESSH 2020 deadline still applies to SHQS compliance. Interim guidance for social landlords was issued in October 2022 and can be found here. |
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6 |
We have been unable to complete all of our Electrical Installation Condition Reports (EICRs) which were due. Should these be recorded as SHQS ‘fails’ or ‘in abeyance’? The Scottish Government’s SHQS Technical Guidance includes definitions for the SHQS classifications. It explains that ‘in abeyance’ can be used where planned works to reach some elements of the SHQS cannot be completed because of social reasons, e.g. because of the behaviour of the tenant. Here are some common examples we have come across, and how they should be recorded in terms of SHQS compliance. Landlord A was unable to carry out an electrical safety inspection (and generate an EICR) because it could not source a suitable contractor to carry out the inspection. Landlord A should record this property as an SHQS fail. Landlord B was unable to carry out an electrical safety inspection (and generate an EICR) because of staff shortages with the contractor appointed to carry it out. Landlord B should record this property as an SHQS fail. Landlord C was unable to carry out an electrical safety inspection (and generate an EICR) because the tenant of the property refused access. Landlord C should record this property as in abeyance. Landlords who have not applied the appropriate classifications in their ARC returns should submit a correction/s. Our Charter Corrections Policy sets out how to do this. Accurate record keeping will be important for landlords to be able to assure themselves about the reasons why any of their homes do not meet SHQS. |
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6 Updated March 2023 |
The amendment to the tolerable standard for fire safety at SHQS element 11A came in to effect from 1 February 2022. Do landlords need to advise SHR of non-compliance in the ARC return? Landlords should advise us of any non-compliance and their plans to address this issue in the comments box at the end of the housing quality and maintenance section of the ARC form. |
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6 Updated March 2023 |
In order to meet element 44 of SHQS, do smoke detectors have to be hard wired? Currently for properties that already have smoke detector(s) installed, the minimum requirement is one detector per property (rather than per floor) and this can either be battery-powered or mains-powered. From 1 February 2022 all properties will need to have:
Smoke detectors may be either mains-operated alarms or tamper proof long-life lithium battery alarms (i.e. not PP3 type or user-replaceable), in line with the revised Tolerable Standard which comes into force in February 2022. You can access further information about the 2019 Order extending the Tolerable Standard criterion here. Annex A of the SHQS guidance highlights that the Tolerable Standard consists of a changing set of legal requirements that are also a subset of SHQS. This means that as the tolerable standard changes, SHQS also changes. Landlords should advise us any non-compliance and plans to address this issue in the comments box at the end of the housing quality and maintenance section. |
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8 |
This Indicator asks for the number of hours taken to complete emergency repairs. It is stated that the time should be expressed in hours. Is this the time taken for each individual repair or the total number of hours for the job to be complete? The time starts when the landlord received notification of the emergency repair, and ends when the job has been made safe. Any follow up work required will be issued with a new job line with the locally agreed target response times for the appropriate category of repair. |
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8 |
If used, should landlords be verifying the times/ data recorded by handheld devices used by workmen out on emergency repairs? |
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8 |
What is the Regulator’s interpretation of “completion of the work necessary to remove the emergency nature of the repair”? The emergency nature of a repair is removed when the contractor stops the immediate problem e.g. turns off the water, gas or power supply or makes the home secure. |
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9 |
How should the days to complete a repair be counted if a tenant reports a repair and wants it completed on a date which suits them but which is out with the normal completion target? The days to complete the repair should be counted from the date the repair is reported to the date the repair is completed. SHR no longer requires landlords to report their performance against their targets. It is appreciated that you may wish to use this information internally but this is not required in the ARC. Arranging repairs at times to suit tenants may help repairs satisfaction levels. If a landlord feels that this is adversely affecting their reported performance they should add a comment in the space provided. |
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9 |
How should repairs reported during the pandemic but not completed until the following year be recorded? The repair should be reported as normal with the start date in one reporting year and the completion date in the following year. The time to complete the repair will span the two reporting years. If you feel that this adversely affects your performance please add a comment in the box provided. |
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9 |
What dates have to be used when counting time taken for non-emergency repairs? The first date should be the day the repair was reported by the service user and the end date should be the date it is signed off as completed. Pre-inspection visits are to be included in the time taken. Time taken due to receipt of faulty parts or delays due to inclement weather have also to be included. |
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8 and 9 |
How would we record the dates if we cannot gain access to the property to fix the repair? No access” should not be included in the time taken for the repair to be fixed. |
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8 and 9 |
For “no access” cases, our IT system would have difficulty in dealing with an original completion time of 8 days then deducting 5 days for no access. Can we arrange an alternative start date? The Regulator expects IT systems to record the information to meet the requirements of the definition. To ensure all landlords are recording data in the same way the definitions of the start and end date are as follows: Start date: date the repair was reported by the service user. End date: date the repair was signed of as completed. |
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10 |
What does ‘Right First Time’ mean in relation to repairs? In order for a repair to be classed as “right first time” it has to meet two separate criteria:
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8,9 and 10 |
Are repairs to temporary accommodation for the homeless to be included? If the property is self-contained and owned by the landlord, these repairs should be included. If the property is leased and the landlord is responsible for repairs, these works should also be included. |
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8,9 and 10 |
Are lock-up garage repairs to be included? No. Only repairs to occupied self-contained properties are to be included |
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8,9 and 10 |
How do landlords deal with repairs which require separate trades’ contractors or numerous workers? How landlords organise for repairs to be carried out is irrelevant to tenants. We expect landlords to look at the recording of their repairs performance from the tenant’s perspective. The timescale is commenced when a repair is reported by the tenant and is completed when all elements are finished, irrespective of the numbers of trades or work persons involved. |
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10 |
If the landlord notifies the tenant that the repair will require more than one visit, will this be classed as ‘right first time’ if the repair takes a number of separate visits to complete? Yes, as long as the landlord has agreed this with the tenant in advance, and the job meets the other criteria specified for ‘right first time’. |
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10 |
What if an operative responds to a repair call, completes within the landlord’s timescales, but it has required two visits? This would pass the first criteria for ‘right first time’, but the job would also have to meet the other criteria that the second visit was not due to a faulty repair on the first visit i.e. a recall. |
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10 |
If an operative/contractor turned up late to an appointment or they did not keep the appointment right away then I class the repair as not RFT. The repair will still get completed and may be within target and not re-called but because of the situation with the appointment I am classing this as a failure. Is this correct? No. The appointment issue is a separate matter. The indicator is largely trying to capture the quality of the repairs that have been undertaken i.e. the problem is fixed. So while keeping appointments is important it is something different. |
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11 |
Can you provide further details on the gas safety regulations? It is for landlords to ensure that they meet these obligations by referring to the regulations and any guidance that comes with them. At all times landlords should follow the latest Gas Safety Regulations first and foremost. |
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11 |
In relation to void properties, if a landlord has capped the gas supply but this is out with the anniversary date of the previous CP12, would this be counted as a fail? Even although the capping is out with anniversary date it does not count as a fail. An up-to-date gas safety check record must however be provided to new tenants before they move in. |
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11 |
What does SHR mean when it says landlords must make sure the gas supply is safe? For void properties the supply must either be capped or have a valid gas safety record in place. This applies to properties bought via mortgage to rent (MtR) as well. For MtR properties if the tenant (former owner) has a valid certificate this is acceptable. If not, the landlord should provide a certificate at the tenancy start as the norm. |
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11 |
How soon after a landlord has bought back a property should a gas safety check carried out? If the property is empty the landlord should cap the supply immediately. If at the end of the reporting year the property has not been capped this should be reported as a fail. |
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11 New March 2023 |
Is MOT style certification for gas safety checks acceptable? Yes, the 5th edition of the HSE’s Gas safety Approved Code of Practice and Guidance allows for renewal dates to be maintained if certificates are issued within the two months before the expiry date of a certificate. |
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11 New March 2023 |
Do landlords need to advise SHR of non-compliance in the ARC return? Yes, landlords should advise us of any non-compliance and their plans to address this issue in the comments box at the end of the housing quality and maintenance section. |
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12 |
If a landlord collects satisfaction data on each repair carried out in the year in a property, should they only be reporting based on the feedback for the latest repair, or can they just report the satisfaction for all the repairs carried out e.g. an average? Landlords should only include the satisfaction figure for the final repair in the reporting year when providing that data to us. For example, if a property has three separate repairs in the reporting year then only the satisfaction figure for the third repair should be included in the figures provided to us. Landlords may wish to use the other data (e.g. the first and second satisfaction figure in the example) for its own internal purposes. |
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13 |
Landlords are not responsible for all aspects of neighbourhood management. In some areas certain aspects of management are the responsibility of other organisations and agencies, so can this be considered as a measure of a landlord’s performance? For most tenants, their landlord will be the first port of call if they are experiencing issues in their neighbourhood. If landlords are not responsible for certain aspects of neighbourhood management they can assist or signpost tenants to the appropriate organisation or sources of assistance. When asking tenants about their satisfaction landlords are able to provide context beforehand |
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14 |
Are landlords to include no responses to offers of housing as refusals? Yes. The ARC does not require a breakdown of refusal reasons; however, landlords should record this information for their own purposes. |
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14 |
Should landlords count multiple refusals for one property? Yes. The indicator requires the number of offers of housing that were refused. |
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14 |
Are landlords to include Short Scottish Secure Tenancies? Yes. Scottish Secure Tenancies and Short Scottish Secure Tenancies are to be included. |
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14 |
Are the offers/refusals based on the lets in the year the total numbers offered and refused regardless of a let? Yes, all offers and all refusals made within the reporting year should be counted. |
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15 |
What is the Regulator’s definition of ‘a case' in relation to antisocial behaviour? A case is opened when a tenant or service user reports an incident of antisocial behaviour to their landlord. |
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15 |
Where a landlord has closed an antisocial behaviour case as resolved and the situation subsequently flares up again, is this classed as a new case? Yes, when a case is closed and a further service request is received, this should be counted as a new case. Where further approaches are received whilst a case is ongoing, this is not counted as a new case. |
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15 |
When assessing if a case is resolved, whose satisfaction are landlords to go by – the landlord’s or the individual raising the case? A case should be closed when it is resolved to the landlord’s satisfaction. SHR are aware that some matters may never be resolved to the satisfaction of all parties involved. |
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16 |
What is the definition of transfer? A transfer is an existing tenant of the landlord who moves to another of the landlord’s properties. |
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16 |
Should all types of transfers be excluded or management transfers only? All types of transfers should be excluded. |
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16 |
How do we count the properties? This is not a count of properties. It is a count of the number of tenancies that have commenced during the previous reporting year and a count of how many of these tenants remained in their homes for more than 365 days. The figure should be reported as a percentage. |
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16 |
Does a joint tenancy transferring to a single tenant (and vice versa) count as remaining in the tenancy? Yes, both of these scenarios would be counted as remaining in the tenancy, provided the initial tenancy agreement was signed over 365 days ago. |
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18 |
If a property is being used by a contractor during a programme of work how should the void loss be calculated between the date the property becomes empty to the date the contractor signed an occupancy agreement? Should this period be included in the void loss? No, this period will not be included in the re-let times therefore it should not be included in the void loss. Again it should be treated as a ‘normal’ void when it is returned by the contractor. A clear audit trail needs to be in place to show the calculations |
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19 |
I’m not sure what I should be measuring here and reporting on. This indicator is measuring the number of households (applications) waiting for an adaptation, not the number of adaptations outstanding. There may be several adaptations for a household listed on the application. (For this indicator an “application” equates to a “household”.) Indicator 21 measures the average time to complete individual adaptations. There may be several adaptations for a household contained in an application. There is a worked example provided in the FAQs on I21. Worked example for Indicator 19: RSL A receives 20 applications for medical adaptations between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021. This represents adaptions needed to 19 different households (one household has had two applications submitted). Each application has three adaptations on it.
Therefore, one adaptation remains outstanding on each of the seven applications - a total of seven adaptations not completed during 2020/21 reporting year. This means that 6 households have seven adaptations outstanding at the end of the reporting year RSL A also has two applications received in 2019/20 reporting year where two out of three adaptations for each household were not completed during 2019/20 but were completed in 2020/21. This means four adaptations across two households were completed in 2020/21 reporting year but received in the previous year. Therefore RSL A should report: 19(i) 21 (the two households waiting on adaptations to be completed from 2019/20 plus the 19 households with applications received during 2020/21 ); 19(ii) 15 (two applications from 2019/20 and 13 from 2020/21 which have been completed during 2020/21); 19(iii) 6 (21 total households waiting on adaptations minus 15 households where all adaptations were completed in 2020/21). If 19(iii) does not equal 19(i) minus 19(ii), you will be prompted to provide a comment explaining the reason. |
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19,20, and 21 |
Should landlords include all adaptations regardless of whether they are paid for or provided by the Housing service or not? In some Local Authorities, for example, certain types of adaptations can be funded by Social Care Departments. All adaptations completed to the landlord’s self-contained properties should be reported, regardless of the source of funding used. |
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19.20, and 21 |
What is meant by ‘Stage 2’ adaptations? “Stage 2 adaptations” refers to adaptations to properties at new build stage. These should be excluded from the information returned in the ARC |
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19,20, and 21 |
Should minor adaptations such as handrails and major adaptations such as those involving extending or remodelling a property be included? Also, should we include in our calculations for this indicator delays due to funding restrictions for adaptations? All adaptations are to be included in both indicators, regardless of the scale of adaptation or the reasons for delays. Landlords can however add any performance comments in their ARC submission. |
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19,20, and 21 |
Should landlords only include adaptations that are the result of a professional assessment i.e. an Occupational Therapist’s report? No, all adaptations with or without a professional assessment, should be included |
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19,20, and 21 |
Local Authorities carry out adaptations on both council owned and privately owned properties. Should we be reporting on both scenarios? Councils should only report on medical adaptations carried out on the self-contained properties they own. |
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19,20 and 21 |
What constitutes the date of the “approved application”? The application is classed as approved, from the date of the outcome of an assessment by the appropriate department/person. |
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19,20 and 21 |
It isn’t clear whether Indicator 21 refers to applications or adaptations. We have provided clarification on indicators 19, 20 and 21 in the revised Technical Guidance. Indicator 19 refers to households (applications) and indicators 20 and 21 refer to adaptations. There may be more than one adaptation on an application. |
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20 |
The housing adaptations grant landlords receive from the Scottish Government contains an amount to cover the administrative costs of providing this service, should this amount be included at 20(ii) – the cost (£) that was grant funded? Yes, this is part of the overall grant and therefore it should be included. |
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20 |
If a landlord front funds medical adaptations and has paid for adaptations to be completed in the reporting year but has not yet claimed funding from Scottish Government should this be reported as landlord funded? No. It should be reported as grant funded. Landlords will know how much grant funding they will receive so they should record it as grant funded despite it not yet being received |
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21 |
Can you advise how I should be counting individual adaptations completed? For example, if there are external grab rails fitted to the front and rear of the property and an internal grab rail on the stairs. Should this be counted as one, two or three adaptations? This should be counted as three adaptations |
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21 |
I’m not sure what I should be measuring here and reporting on. Indicator 21 measures the average time to complete adaptations. There may be several adaptations for a household contained in an application. A worked example is shown below. Worked example for Indicator 21 Using the figures in the worked example for Indicator 19:
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23 |
How should Section 5 referrals sent to RSLs and then withdrawn be recorded? If a referral is withdrawn it should not be included in the number of referrals received |
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23 |
If a landlord receives a referral, approaches the applicant and gets no response to contact how should this be recorded? This should be counted as a referral received, included in the count of referrals with no offer having been made. Landlords should use the comments box to provide any relevant contextual information. |
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23 |
If a RSL is part of a common housing register (CHR) or operates a choice-based lettings system (CBL) what should it count as a referral? Although there may be some double counting of referrals for those RSLs operating a CHR or a CBL system, this is acceptable and landlords should use the total number of referrals received (i.e those on the list with a homeless priority pass or equivalent). A worked example for Indicator 23 is shown below. Worked example for Indicator 23: RSL A has a two bedroom property to let. It looks to see how many eligible applicants there are on the CHR or CBL. There are 10 applicants so this counts as 10 referrals. The following day RSL A has another two bedroom property to let. It repeats the process and finds that eight applicants are eligible. This counts as eight referrals (and a total of 18 referrals to date). RSL A should not count eligible applicants where it is clear that they do not want a property in RSL A’s area. Worked example for Indicator 23: RSL A receives 100 referrals during the reporting year. These are:
RSL B also receives 100 referrals during the year. 30 of these are the same applicants that have been referred to RSL A. If RSL B also makes an offer to one of these applicants, it should record this as an offer at 24(iv) or (v) and record the outcome if the offer is accepted at 24 (vii). |
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23 |
How should referrals received during the reporting year but not offered or housed until the new reporting year be recorded? Referrals received in the previous year should be included in the total number of referrals received in the previous year. The number of offers made and accepted should be recorded in the new reporting year. This ensures that RSLs contribution to housing homeless people is accurately reflected |
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24 |
If a council sends a referral to a RSL in error (for example: a single person is referred for a three apartment) should this be counted as a referral? No, as a general rule, they should not be counted. However some RSLs do allow single people to under occupy three apartment properties. If this is the case these referrals should be included |
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18,26 and 27 |
Should rent due and rent collected/ arrears include lock-ups and garages, garage sites? No. Garages, garage sites and lock-ups should be excluded. These indicators refer to occupied dwellings only |
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18, 26, 27, C6 and C7 |
Should HMOs being used for temporary homeless lets be included in Indicators? No, all forms of homeless temporary accommodation should be excluded from these indicators. |
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26 |
Should mid-market rent properties be included when calculating rental income or any of the other indicators? No. These properties are not classed as social rented properties and should not be included in any of the calculations or the stock information. |
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27 |
Should a landlord be reducing the value of the arrears reported by the amount of HB received in their first payment for the new year for the last year? If housing benefit payments received in the new reporting year relate to the previous reporting year then this value should be deducted from the arrears value. |
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27 |
Do the arrears written off only relate to the reporting year or can they be arrears from previous years? The arrears can relate to either the current or previous reporting years. However the write off must have happened during the current reporting year. |
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28 |
Should commercial properties be included in the average annual management fee per factored properties? This indicator only relates to residential properties therefore commercial properties should not be included. |
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28 |
Should the average annual management fee include VAT? No, VAT should not be included because this will be reclaimed by the landlord. |
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29 |
How often should a satisfaction survey of factored owners be carried out? Landlords should carry out satisfaction surveys at least every three years. Updated guidance on conducting tenant and residents’ surveys has been published Conducting surveys of tenants and service users | Scottish Housing Regulator.
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18 and 30 |
Can the additional length of time taken by relatives to clear the house be excluded from the re-let time and void loss? No, only the time taken as outlined in your policy/procedure can be deducted from both calculations. You should note in the comments box the reason for longer delays. |
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18 and 30 |
If the Social Work Department is looking for a tenant for a property and it pays the rent during this period can this be excluded from the void loss and re-let times? Any period which the Social Work Department does not pay the rent should be included in the void loss and re-let time calculations. If no rental loss is being charged to voids then it cannot be included in these calculations. |
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18 and 30 |
If the police are holding keys to a void property during an investigation can these days be excluded from the void loss and re-let times calculations? Yes. The time taken for the police investigation is out with landlords’ control and therefore should be excluded from the void loss and re-let calculations. |
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30 |
Does the time taken to re-let properties include or exclude public holidays? This calculation is based on calendar days and therefore public holidays should be included in the time to re-let calculation. |
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30 |
If a property becomes void and it is decided that it will be used by a contractor for business purposes during a programme of work, how should a landlord deal with reporting this? It should not be included as a re-let at this point but should be treated as a ‘normal’ void when it is returned by the contractor. A clear audit trail needs to be in place to show the calculations. |
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30 |
Are landlords entitled to exclude properties that are ready to let, but not available to let, from their days to let figures? Landlords can only exclude void days from their calculation when their empty property falls under one of the categories set out under this indicator in the Technical Guidance. If a landlord decides their property does qualify for an exclusion, they must hold the necessary documentation to support such a decision, as they may be asked to provide this should they be selected for verification. |
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30 |
If a property is being held for allocation to Ukrainian households only, how should a landlord deal with reporting this? If a SST or SSST is given to a Ukrainian household, this should be counted within all relevant indicators, including time to re-let. If a landlord feels that this is adversely affecting their reported performance, they can use the comments box to provide further information. |
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C2 New March 2023 |
How should lets to Ukrainian refugees be recorded? If a SST or SSST is given to a Ukrainian household this should be recorded as a ‘let from other sources’ unless one of the other sources are applicable. |
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C2 |
What is to be counted as “other sources”? Other sources are referrals from other agencies or groups e.g. Women’s Aid, Social Work Department etc. |
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C3 |
Does a situation where support is provided to a tenant by a third party organisation count as supported accommodation? Yes. |
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C3 |
Would time limited support for a tenant be classed as supported accommodation, for example a period of support from an external agency when a new tenant moves into general needs stock? Yes, this would be defined as ‘supported accommodation’. The Regulator recognises however that landlords can only report on support if they are aware of it. |
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C3 |
Is supported housing the same as sheltered housing? Sheltered housing is one type of supported housing. |
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C4 |
Do we count as properties abandoned a situation where the tenant was the subject of eviction action? No. Only properties abandoned as outlined in sections 17 and 18 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 should be included. |
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C6 |
What tenancies should be included in the calculation for the percentage of households with direct payments i.e only new tenancies starting in the reporting year, temporary accommodation? All households that the landlord receives direct housing costs are to be included, irrespective of the tenancy type or start date. Temporary accommodation is not included in the rent due, void loss nor gross arrears figures and therefore it should not be included in the direct payments calculations. |
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C6 |
What is the calculation for the value of payments? The value will be the total amount of housing costs (either through housing benefit or universal credit) received by the landlord for the reporting year minus any overpayments recovered from the landlord, regardless of when the overpayment was made. |
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C7 |
Is the value of written off arrears included in the total value at year end? Yes, the total value of former tenant arrears at year end is defined as ‘the rent that is lawfully due to the landlord (including garages, lock ups and service charges) and is unpaid by former tenants, prior to write off being applied’ |
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C9 New March 2023 |
Do landlords have to explain why properties are failing SHQS? Yes, landlords should provide details of the figures supplied at C9.4.3 (total stock failing SHQS) in the comments box at the end of the housing quality and maintenance section. We are particularly interested in any non-compliance with electrical, gas and fire safety and the plans to address these issues. |