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Fifth of Scottish social housing tenants struggling financially, new research finds
A fifth of social housing tenants in Scotland said they are struggling financially, new research published by the Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR) has found.
According to the annual survey of the National Panel of Tenants and Service Users, almost a third of tenants said they often have to delay or miss paying a bill.
More than one in 10 residents are currently experiencing difficulties in affording their rent. Increased food and energy costs were the biggest contributors to financial difficulties.
The annual survey by the Scottish regulator and Engage Scotland surveyed 230 people who are either a social housing tenant or use a social landlord’s services.
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Around half (49%) said they thought their rent is good value for money, but just over a third (35%) felt their rent is poor value.
Just over half of residents (53%) have experienced difficulties affording their rent, including 29% in the past year.
A large majority (87%) had recently received information from their landlord about annual rent increases and 77% were concerned about the future affordability of their rent.
More than half feel their financial circumstances are worse now than 12 months ago.
Helen Shaw, director of regulation at the SHR, said: “Feedback from the National Panel shows the scale of the ongoing financial pressures tenants and their families continue to face.
“The research, alongside our other engagements with tenants and service users, helps to understand the priorities, experiences and views of people who use social landlords’ services.
“We will use the research to help inform our work, including our review of charter indicators.”
This tenant survey comes after the latest development figures for Scotland were released last month. Completions fell by nearly a third to 5,043 and starts fell by 15% to 3,500, in the 2023-24 financial year.
This drop-off, according to the latest government data in Scotland, meant completions were the lowest since 2020-21 and starts the lowest since 2012-13.
Scottish housing minister Paul McLennan blamed the UK government’s cuts to certain budgets.
In the private sector, completions were down 13% to 14,589 and starts were down 16% to 12,904.
New build completions were the second lowest since 2017-18 and starts were at the lowest point since 2014-15 and lower than when the coronavirus pandemic affected housebuilding.
On Scotland’s Affordable Housing Supply Programme, there were 6,981 approvals, 6,755 starts and 9,514 completions of affordable homes. This includes affordable homes for social rent, affordable rent and affordable homeownership.
