I NOTE with interest your article ("New eviction law to protect tenants", The Herald, August 1) which refers to changes brought in by the Scottish Government to try to prevent evictions in the social rented sector.
The Scottish Federation of Housing Association's opinion differs to that of Graeme Brown, director of Shelter Scotland.
Mr Brown is quoted as saying that "too many social landlords are using the threat of eviction as a rent collection method". Scotland's housing associations and co-operatives do not evict tenants in a cavalier fashion and evictions are only ever used as a last resort.
Mr Brown also points out that during the 2010-11 financial year 761 tenants were evicted; this figure represents around a quarter of 1% of all social tenants and our members have worked hard over recent years to drastically reduce the number of tenants being evicted for rent arrears.
We do, however, view eviction as a necessary, if sparingly used, sanction for persistent non-payment of rent. These additional requirements coming into effect reflect the good practice that currently exists within the sector and will therefore have a negligible effect on our members, most of whom already provide high-quality advice and financial planning to tenants who are struggling to pay their rent.
However, the forthcoming changes to welfare payments will prove a bigger challenge, as the proposed changes are likely to cause confusion, additional financial hardship for tenants, and increased work for social landlords to help prevent evictions. This massive extra burden on housing associations and co-operatives comes at a time of decreasing budgets and extra pressure on resources.
Andy Young,
Policy and membership manager,
Scottish Federation of Housing Associations, Sutherland House, 149 St Vincent Street, Glasgow.
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