The Scottish Government is considering ten proposals relating to allocations, succession rights and a greater use of short tenancy agreements.

These were formulated partly as a result of responses to various consultations that have taken place with our sector over the past 3 or 4 years, but also partly from discussions in other working groups such as the Scottish Government advisory groups on allocations. Most of the proposed changes would have to be legislated for, so assuming there is an appetite for some of these proposals, we would require another housing bill at some point in the future.

The Scottish Government is keen to make greater use of social media and have set up a dedicated Facebook page, on which you can make comments on the proposals. The Facebook page can be accessed here Scottish Government Facebook Page

The consultation document can be viewed here Consultation Document

The SFHA will close the consultation on 23 April 2012.

The Scottish Government has launched a consultation to seek your views and proposals on making regulations on the requirement of local authorities to carry out an assessment for housing support for homeless applicants, or those who are threatened with homelessness, and who are priority need, and on the provision of the necessary housing support. The Scottish Government are also seeking your views on the Business and Equalities impact your proposals may have. Deadline: 13th April 2012

The Scottish Housing Regulator has published the analysis of responses received to this consultation.  The SFHA has produced a summary briefing of this report, comparing with some of the key points in our response to their consultation.   This is available here:

SFHA Summary of SHR Analysis

The full report, which the SHR commissioned independent consultants to carry out, is available here:

Analysis of Responses

The SFHA has submitted its response to the Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR) consultaiton "the Regulation of Social Housing in Scotland" in November 2011.  This is available on the SFHA website:

SFHA Response to SHR Consultation

SFHA Response to SHR Consultation -Covering Letter

The Social Housing Charter is currently being considered by Scottish Parliament.   Details of the process are available in an SFHA briefing here:

Social Housing Charter - Briefing on Parliamentary Process Feb 2012

The SFHA has submitted written evidence on the revised Scottish Social Housing Charter to the Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee.   It is available here:

Written Evidence to Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee

The Scottish Government has released the latest redraft of the Social Housing Charter.   It is available here:

Social Housing Charter - Redraft 16 January 2012

The most notable difference is that it has been reduced from 71 outcomes to 16 outcomes, which is clearly a great improvement and closer to what the SFHA suggested in its Alternative Charter.

The latest draft will now be considered by the Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee at the Scottish Parliament.  The SFHA has been asked to submit written evidence to the Committee by Wednesday 18 January 2012, and will provide oral evidence on Wednesday 25 January 2012.

If you have any comments regarding the revised draft - especially if there are any outcomes you strongly object to - please contact me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The SFHA has submitted a response to this consultation

SFHA Response to Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council