George Walker, SHR chair, and board member Helen Trouten Torres, were speaking at the Tenant Participation Advisory Service Scotland conference in St. Andrews.

Mr Walker told delegates: “A strong tenant voice is essential for the success of social housing. Without it, social landlords cannot truly thrive and provide customer-focused services.

“Models of tenant involvement have evolved a lot over the last decade, which I welcome. But the one constant is the influence you wield: to work with your landlords, help shape their services, and to hold them to account. We expect landlords to be working with tenants to ensure this happens.”

In his speech, George discussed rent affordability, highlighting concerns about future affordability and discussing recent trends in rent increases. He told delegates that the level of rent increases will feature prominently in SHR’s regulatory assessment of landlords.