By Carolyn Lochhead, Director of Communications and Public Affairs, SFHA.
Those of us working in the social housing sector know that housing associations’ work goes far beyond ‘just’ delivering housing – but does the public? Earlier this year, SFHA set about answering this question in order to find out more about the public’s understanding of social housing and the wider role of housing associations.
We commissioned a survey by YouGov which sought to explore the public’s understanding of the difference between a housing association, private landlord and local authority. We also wanted to find out what, if any, understanding exists about the role of the sector in housebuilding and the wider role housing associations play in their communities.
The results were, perhaps, not surprising, but showed there is still much work to be done to increase public knowledge of what social housing is, how to access it and housing associations’ work to support tenants and communities.
The survey was based on a YouGov survey of over 1,000 adults in Scotland, and it allowed them to select as many options as they believed applied. The results found mixed levels of understanding. While over two-fifths (42%) of respondents were aware that social housing involved housing where rents were kept low, almost half believed that it was only for people on low incomes (48%), and over two-fifths (43%) thought it was housing for people in receipt of welfare benefits.
There was similar uncertainty about who provides social housing:
- Seventy-six per cent of participants thought social housing was provided by local authorities
- Forty-eight per cent believed it was provided by the Scottish Government
- Sixty-six per cent thought it was provided by housing associations.
The research also explored the public’s understanding of housing associations, finding a strong understanding (72%) that they provide homes at affordable rents. However, less than half (41%) were aware that housing associations build good quality homes for rent. Awareness of the wider work that housing associations do was particularly low:
- Just 5% of respondents knew that housing associations can provide employability support.
- Only a fifth (20%) were aware that housing associations could help people to access the welfare benefits they are entitled to.
- Just under a quarter realised housing associations could help with managing bills (23%) or energy use (22%).
Worryingly, few people in Scotland understand how to get access to social housing. Over a quarter of respondents said they did not know how to do this, while a quarter thought a person had to be homeless in order to qualify.
It was reassuring that public knowledge of housing associations providing accommodation at affordable rents was strong. However, the quality of this housing, the wider role of housing associations in supporting communities, and the contribution made by our members towards Scotland’s affordable housebuilding target are poorly understood across most demographics.
These findings matter. While the public is generally not SFHA’s primary target audience, it is still an important one, not least because public opinion drives political priorities. At SFHA, we’re now looking carefully at our language and our approaches to communication so that we’re doing all we can to increase the understanding of our vibrant and valuable sector. Working with members will be a key part of this work. If we want sustained political support for our sector, we must work together to increase awareness of the vital role that Scotland’s housing associations play in communities across Scotland.
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All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 1,008 Scottish adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 26–30 May 2022. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).
