By Sally Thomas
LAST week the Scottish Government announced new measures for tenants who are struggling to pay their rent as a result of the pandemic. This includes a new £10 million grant fund as well as a national campaign, aimed at all renters, to raise awareness of the sources of support that are available. These are measures which the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) had called for, and ones we welcome. It is this support – and not the extended notice periods for eviction orders, introduced by the Scottish Government last year in response to Covid-19 – that will help people to keep their homes.
Earlier this month, SFHA released a new report, Avoiding Evictions and Managing Rent Arrears: Covid Recovery, which, as well as calling for further help for tenants who have been financially impacted by the pandemic, detailed the process for evictions in the social housing sector, the work that housing associations and co-operatives carry out to help tenants to remain in their homes, and the principles that inform this approach.
Housing associations and co-operatives work hard to help tenants who are struggling to pay their rent in a range of ways. This includes support to access benefits, budgeting advice, hardship funds and employability services. They arrange manageable payment plans for tenants in rent arrears and will never evict someone who has agreed to, and is meeting, the conditions.
Their work pays off as evictions in the social housing sector are rare. In 2019/20, just before the pandemic, 764 were carried out, of an approximate total of 290,000 properties let by social landlords, less than 0.3%.
However, at the same time, rent is vital for housing associations and co-operatives to pay for housing services, repairs and maintenance and to invest in new homes. Non-payment of rent by some tenants could easily have a knock-on effect on others if their housing association or co-operative is faced with a level of arrears which affects its ability to invest in homes and services.
Therefore, the Government’s new measures should not only help more people to remain in their homes but enable social landlords to remain financially viable, so they can keep delivering for their tenants and communities.
SFHA and the Scottish Government have the same objective: we want tenants to be able to keep their homes. The way to achieve this is not through extended notice periods for eviction orders but by providing increased financial support for people who’re struggling to pay their rent as well as further awareness raising of the help that’s available. So we are pleased the Government has accepted the basis of our recommendations, and we will work with it on the detail and delivery of these measures.
Evictions remain a crucial last resort action for housing associations and co-operatives in cases of anti-social or criminal behaviour or when a tenant will not respond to their social landlord and agree a payment plan. However, social landlords always have and always will do everything they can to support their tenants and to help them to pay their rent, so evictions can be avoided. It is more important than ever that we help people to stay in their homes.
Sally Thomas is Chief Executive, Scottish Federation of Housing Associations
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