Evelyn Tweed MSP has welcomed a call for public views on the Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR) and is urging people from across Scotland to engage with the review, which can be done anonymously.
The SHR, Scotland’s social housing regulator, is responsible for safeguarding and promoting the interests of tenants and owners receiving services from social landlords. It regulates 158 registered social landlords (RSLs) and the housing activities of Scotland’s 32 local authorities.
In a parliamentary speech in April last year, Evelyn Tweed highlighted serious concerns about the way that the SHR conducted its work with Housing Associations and that issues had been raised with her by constituents and others.
Evelyn Tweed MSP highlighted that these serious concerns were not going away and that an independent review of the regulator was needed. The Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee is now asking the public for their views on the SHR as they seek to scrutinise its work.
The Committee is keen to hear views from tenants, organisations in the third sector, local authorities, housing associations, academics and anyone else with direct experience of the Scottish Housing Regulator. The public have until the 11th October to give their views via an online form, with the option to remain anonymous.
Evelyn Tweed said: “I’m pleased that the committee is asking for views on this and I urge anyone affected by the SHR to take part. As I have stated before, there have been serious concerns raised about the conduct and culture of the SHR for many years without any repercussions and like any other regulator, they must be held accountable for their actions.
“Poor and destructive decisions by the SHR have had a knock-on effect on Community Housing which then impacts vast numbers of the community who need homes, people in local communities who just want to work and raise their families. Community led housing is about giving communities the power to do what is right for them, to democratise the process, and to provide good quality, and affordable housing. The SHR, as a regulator, should help, not hinder community led housing.
“Anyone who has concerns about the SHR or its agents should respond to the committee on this matter and have their views heard. I am aware there has previously been much anxiety around speaking up on this issue for fear of reprisal from the SHR, so I am appealing to those people to contact the committee directly by email to discuss giving their views privately.”
The call for views closes on Friday 11 October. To have your say and submit your view, please go to:
Anyone who would prefer to give their views privately can contact the committee directly before making their submission: localgov.committee@parliament.scotEnds
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Notes to editors
Evelyn Tweed’s concerns about the SHR were covered extensively in an article in Scottish Housing News in 2023 https://www.scottishhousingnews.com/articles/msp-calls-for-probe-into-alleged-bullying-by-judge-and-jury-scottish-housing-regulator
About the SHR
The Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR) is an independent Non-Ministerial Department, established by the Housing (Scotland) Act 2010.
Its objective is to safeguard and promote the interests of:
- around 600,000 tenants who live in homes provided by social landlords;
- over 120,000 owners who received services from social landlords;
- around 40,000 people and their families who experience homelessness and seek help from local authorities; and
- around 2,000 Gypsy/Travellers who can use official sites provided by social landlords.
The main functions of the SHR are to:
- keep a publicly available register of social landlords;
- monitor, assess and regularly report on all social landlords’ performance of housing activities and on registered social landlords’ financial well-being and standards of governance; and
- take action, where necessary, to protect the interests of tenants and other service users.
The SHR regulates 158 registered social landlords (RSLs) and the housing activities of Scotland’s 32 local authorities. The SHR is independent of the Scottish Ministers and is directly accountable to the Scottish Parliament.
