All social landlords are required to submit an Annual Assurance Statement to the Scottish Housing Regulator by the end of October each year about their compliance with regulatory requirements.

The Regulator visited 11 landlords to explore their approach to preparing the Statement and how they assured themselves they complied with regulatory requirements. The visits had a particular focus on how landlords assured themselves about meeting their tenant and resident safety duties and how they ensured the accuracy of the data submitted to the Regulator in the Annual Return on the Charter.

The thematic review also sets out the findings from work carried out by the Regulator’s Tenant Advisors to review a sample of landlords’ Statements.

The positive practice the Regulator found included how landlords involve their governing body and tenants and how they work with other landlords to support their self assurance process.

Helen Shaw, director of regulation, said: “We wanted to hear from landlords about their experience of producing their Statement and what worked well for them. Landlords told us the process provides governing bodies and committees with welcome assurance on their compliance with regulatory requirements.

“All of the landlords we visited told us tenant and resident safety was a key priority for them and many of the landlords told us of the work they have undertaken to review their processes to ensure their tenants’ homes are not affected by mould and damp.

“Our thematic review includes many examples of what landlords told us worked well for them and we hope these examples and the other advice in the review are helpful to landlords as they prepare their next Statement.”

Each year the Regulator considers each landlord’s Statement as part of its annual risk assessment and publishes the outcomes of this in engagement plans around the end of March.