George Walker

Publishing findings from its National Report on the Charter for 2022/23, SHR said landlords reported the ongoing impact from the pandemic, the cost of living crisis and labour and material shortages have all contributed to the dip in tenant satisfaction and to rent arrears rising to the highest level since the introduction of the Charter.

Despite these challenges, landlords have reported that more homes are compliant with the Scottish Housing Quality Standard and the number and proportion of lets to homeless households has increased. Scottish Government homelessness statistics, which are also summarised in the report, demonstrate the significant pressure on the homelessness system; with the numbers of households and children in temporary accommodation significantly up.

George Walker, chair of the Scottish Housing Regulator, said: “2022/23 was another challenging year for social landlords, and this has influenced landlord performance and satisfaction levels among tenants and other service users. The increased levels of rent arrears highlight the financial strain on many tenants and today’s report shows that landlords are working hard to ensure that rent levels are affordable while they are still able to deliver services to their tenants.

“Scotland’s homelessness system also continued to be under significant pressure during 2022/23, which we explored in our thematic report earlier this year. It is vital that local authorities and their partners continue to work effectively to address these challenges and always meet their statutory duties. We’ll continue to engage with all local authorities, with a particular focus on temporary accommodation, during 2023/24.”

The Regulator has published all of the statistical information about landlord performance alongside the National Report. It has also published individual landlord reports and comparison tool on its website.