SHR: “Landlords have improved their factoring service but there’s still more to do”

According to a new report published by the Scottish Housing Regulator, “the majority of social landlords that provide a factoring service have made improvements to the service, and satisfaction is up. But there is more to do to improve the quality of factoring services”.  

The regulator’s report summarises the findings of its national survey of almost 200 social landlords across Scotland. It shows that, overall, factored owners’ satisfaction improved to 67%. This falls below the overall rate of tenant satisfaction of almost 90%.

The SHR’s report shows that 145 landlords provide factoring services and this is a growing area of social landlords’ business. Social landlords factor over 123,000 homes across Scotland, and the sector collects more than £10 million in management fees.

The regulator’s survey is a follow up to its national thematic inquiry into factoring services in Scotland which it published last year. The inquiry looked at how social landlords apply the standards and outcomes of the Scottish Social Housing Charter when delivering factoring services. It asked landlords about how they deliver their factoring services, including what type of services they provide, how much they charge, how they assess value for money, and how they communicate and involve service users. 

Christine Macleod, Director of Regulation (Governance and Performance), said:

“Since we published our report on factoring services in Scotland last year, we’ve found that the majority of social landlords have reviewed their factoring services, many have put in place improvements and overall owners’ satisfaction with services is up. Some still have more work to do to act on our recommendations and improve their factoring services.”  

The regulator will present the survey results at the Scottish Federation of Housing Association’s Factoring Conference on 6 December. The regulator’s report is available on its website.