SFHA Research

The SFHA research service supports and represents members by:

• Collecting and sharing research on issues which affect social housing providers in Scotland;
• Keeping members up-to-date on important developments within the sector; and
• Gathering evidence to allow SFHA to effectively represent members in our conversations with government, parliamentarians and other key stakeholders.

Recent Projects

In 2021, we commissioned research by Changeworks into the Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing (EESSH2) which  is to be met by 2032. This included a modelling excercise which suggested the current approach would only reduce the total percentage of households in fuel poverty from 38% to 29%, despite costing housing associations an estimated £2 billion. SFHA has since been campaign for the Scottish Government to carry out an urgent and comprehensive review of the standard.

Along with Shelter Scotland, and the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) Scotland, SFHA commissioned research into Affordable Housing Need in Scotland Post-2021. The final report was published May 2020.

SFHA has also partnered with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF); Public Health Scotland; Rural and Islands Housing Associations Forum (RIHAF), SFHA’s rural and islands members’ forum; and commissioned the UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence (CaCHE) and HACT to investigate the social, economic, health, and wellbeing impact of social housing. The final report has now been published and can be found here: The Impact of Social Housing: Economic, Social, Health and Wellbeing.

Since 2019 SFHA has also carried out a monthly survey to monitor the impact of the Universal Credit rollout. An archive of these survey reports can be found below:

• October to December 2021 – in progress
• July to September 2021
• April to June 2021
• January to March 2021
• October to December 2020
• July to September 2020
• January 2019 to June 2020

Get in touch!

Our research service exists for members, and we want to make sure that members are able to make the most of the work that we do. If you are looking for some information on a particular issue, or have any questions or comments about our work, please don't hesitate to get in touch!