Social Landlords in Scotland: Shaping up for improvement

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Social Landlords in Scotland: Shaping up for improvement.relationships with, existing owners is going to become an increasinglyimportant area of work for social landlords over the next five years.8.13 We will work with the Scottish Government on the proposed development of avoluntary national accreditation scheme, and to define our role with ownersduring the consultation on proposals in the draft housing bill.Gypsies/Travellers8.14 Gypsies/Travellers are people who are dedicated to living a travellingexistence, or who come from a travelling background. There are around 744households (over 1,020 people) living on sites and encampments in Scotland– with around 42% living in the 32 sites owned by local authorities and RSLs(compared with 22% on private sites and 36% on unauthorisedencampments).8.15 We have conducted two thematic studies of site provision by local authorities.We found that improvement was needed in information about the needs andpreferences of Gypsies/Travellers; longer-term and financial planning toimprove the quality of sites and their amenities; defined standards andinformation for site users; performance monitoring; feedback to residentsfollowing consultation; and greater attention to affordability and rent setting.Since then the Scottish Government has provided small, three-year sitedevelopment grants. Our continued role in this area is being considered aspart of the Scottish Government’s current consultation on reformingregulation.51
Social Landlords in Scotland: Shaping up for improvement.9. Emerging themes for the futureAbout the sector9.1 Greater clarity about the outcomes we want social housing to achieve wouldhelp shape the debate about what types of organisations we require; andwhether some parts of the current social rented sector are structured to besteffect to deliver those outcomes for particular neighbourhoods andgeographical areas. The types of housing and services available can have ahuge impact on the way local housing systems operate for local people andtheir families. The place and powers of the regulator need to fit within thatbroader debate.9.2 In the RSL sector, we have seen that in some localities the highermanagement costs of smaller, community based organisations can lead tobetter housing management outcomes. We can see this in the indicators forvacancies, lettings and arrears; and in the less tangible evidence of localresidents exercising greater control over their neighbourhoods and in widerlocal benefits. But this is by no means always the case – community basedor tenant-led organisations do not, in themselves, always secure goodoutcomes for tenants. We have also seen larger group structures emergeover the last ten years that benefit from economies of scale, a more strategicgeographical canvass, and a more business-like approach to assetmanagement. They have often worked hard to counter the less beneficialeffects of larger scale, by developing local area committees and decentraliseddecision-making structures that bring them closer to local communities andenable tenants to influence decisions that affect them. We have alsoinspected larger, longer established developing organisations that areinsufficiently focused on the needs of their existing tenant base and do notencourage a responsive, participative approach.9.3 The Scottish Government is currently consulting on the sorts of organisationsthat we should regulate. It is suggesting it may want to have the potential toinvolve profit-distributing private sector organisations in social housing. Amore reflective discussion about the performance, cost and effectiveness ofparticular organisations in their context matters now more than ever becausethe financial, policy, investment and institutional landscape has already52
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Social Landlords in Scotland: Shaping up for improvement

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