The regulator said that tenant and resident safety was a ‘key priority’ for landlords it visited as part of its annual risk assessments
The Scottish Housing Regulator has reported that many landlords have appropriate measures in place to ensure compliance with tenant and resident safety and financial planning.
The regulator noted that, of the 13 landlords it visited as part of its annual risk assessment to check compliance with regulatory requirements, it found that tenant and resident safety was a “key priority”.
The regulator then visited nine registered social landlords (RSLs) and four local authority landlords to explore how they assured themselves about their compliance with the requirements.
The focus of the visits was on how landlords assured themselves of their compliance with tenant and resident safety duties, and for RSLs, how they assured their governing bodies of their approach to financial planning and tenant safety.
The regulator said that many landlords were able to describe the processes they had in place to assure themselves of tenant and resident safety. These included robust recording and reporting mechanisms, dedicated roles to monitor compliance, and seeking independent expert advice.
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However, it added that some landlords it visited lacked sufficient evidence to provide assurance on their approach to tenant safety, including out-of-date policies and procedures and irregular reporting.
The regulator highlighted that these issues hindered appropriate oversight by governing bodies.
One recommendation from the thematic review was that landlords could consider involving tenant groups when assessing their compliance with tenant and resident safety.
The regulator said landlords should also consider the frequency and level of information being provided to its governing body regarding tenant and resident safety, to provide it with sufficient assurance about compliance with requirements.
The report also noted that many of the registered social landlords it visited had effective measures to ensure that their governing bodies are adequately assured about the organisation’s financial planning.
The regulator said it observed evidence of regular and detailed reporting to governing bodies, and effective use of benchmarking, sensitivity analysis and independent expert advice.
One suggestion from the regulator was that RSLs consider how they present financial information to governing bodies, to ensure it is “clear, accessible, and timely”.
The report also suggest that RSLs may also benefit from providing training, where necessary, for governing body members to ensure they are able to effectively scrutinise financial reports.
The Scottish regulator requires all social landlords to submit an annual assurance statement by the end of October each year about their compliance with regulatory requirements.
Out of 161 social landlords, 18 reported what they considered material non-compliance with regulatory requirements, while 36 reported non-material non-compliance.
Helen Shaw, director of regulation at the Scottish Housing Regulator, said: “We wanted to hear from landlords about their self-assurance processes and their experience of producing their statement”.
“This year the visits again had a focus on tenant and resident safety and we found this was a key priority for the landlords we visited”.
“Our thematic review includes many examples of what landlords told us worked well for them and it sets out a number of recommendations. We encourage all landlords to consider this report as they develop their approaches to self-assurance and prepare their next statement.”
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