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Scottish regulator warns landlords over tenant safety after issues found at a number of associations
The Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR) has written to social landlords to highlight the importance of tenant safety after engaging with a number of providers over issues, including the management of asbestos and electrical safety.
According to the letter, signed by Ian Brennan, director of regulation at the SHR, the governing bodies of these landlords did not get or seek “appropriate assurance” that their organisation was meeting its legal duties on tenant safety.
The regulator called on landlords to ensure it met all duties and show that they were taking “prompt action” to address any instances of non-compliance.
The letter comes after the SHR published an updated engagement plan for Thistle Housing Association on Monday, revealing that “serious historical weaknesses” had been identified within the organisation’s approach to asbestos management.
In the letter sent yesterday, Mr Brennan also warned that the SHR has been advised of a number of recent incidents of fraud against Scottish social landlords through cyber attacks. In at least one incident, it led to the attacker gaining access to the personal data of tenants.
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Mr Brennan wrote: “Cyber threat is one of a number of critical business risks which have the potential to challenge an organisation’s resilience.”
The letter also refers to a previous note sent by the SHR in February with regards to Brexit, which said Scottish housing associations should make plans to ensure their “financial well-being” in the case of no deal.
Mr Brennan said the advice sent then “remains appropriate” and said organisations will want to explore the resilience of their business plans to help them cope with the risks that Brexit will bring.
Tuesday’s letter comes just over one week before the deadline for Scottish social landlords to submit their first ever annual assurance statements.
Introduced as part of a new regulatory framework in April, the statements are submitted by boards to assure the regulator that their organisation is compliant with regulatory standards or to disclose any areas where it needs to improve.
Mr Brennan said: “Social landlords must ensure they meet all duties on tenant and resident safety and that they obtain the necessary assurances about their compliance.
“We will be talking to landlords on how they are obtaining assurance in this area as part of our follow up work on the annual assurance statements.”
