Housing Charter Must Not Increase Burden on Housing Associations

The SFHA has highlighted a need for more clarity in the Scottish Government's proposed Social Housing Charter

and called for assurances it will not lead to a heavier regulatory burden for housing associations and co-operatives.

In its response to the Scottish Government's discussion paper on the Social Housing Charter, the SFHA has sought reassurance from the Scottish Government that the charter will not lead to more intensive and costly regulation for housing associations.

The SFHA has highlighted also that there is doubt over how the aims stated in the Charter can be used in practice as measures of associations' and co-operatives' performance.

The Social Housing Charter will replace existing Performance Standards as the basis on which the Scottish Housing Regulator measures the performance of housing associations and co-operatives in Scotland.

Alan Stokes, SFHA Policy and Strategy Manager said:

"We welcome the involvement of tenants in the production of the Charter, but the SFHA is still unconvinced that the existing mechanisms could not have been reviewed, rather than re-inventing the wheel by creating a new Social Housing Charter from scratch.

"The proposed charter will be difficult to put into practice, as the outcomes as suggested in the discussion paper are not measurable. While there is no a appetite from our members for a more detailed charter, more guidance is needed as to how these targets are to be measured, and indeed met, and what the Scottish Housing Regulator's role will be.

"It is crucial that the Scottish Government's formal consultation on the Charter joins up with the Scottish Housing Regulator, whose own consultation is also set to be launched soon. These two consultations must link together, to ensure that the regulatory regime produced is coherent, proportionate and does not increase the regulatory burden and cost for our sector."

The SFHA response to the consultation is available Housing Charter Discussion Paper Response May 2011