Social landlords protected against local authority influence

The Regulation of Social Housing (Influence of Local Authorities) (Scotland) Regulations came into force on 19 September 2018.

These regulations are designed to reduce the influence that local authorities may impose over registered social landlords and their implementation has led to a reclassification of social housing landlords as private organisations by the Office of National Statistics (ONS). This is a largely administrative change relating to the way that the assets are treated by the ONS under European accountancy rules. The change reflects the treatment of English housing associations following implementation of similar regulations in England in November 2017 and returns housing associations to the private status that they had prior to 2015.

Scottish Federation of Housing Associations chief executive, Sally Thomas, welcomed the reclassification, stating that: “This decision protects the independence of the sector, ensuring an environment where our members can maximise private finance in order to develop much needed affordable housing in Scotland alongside Scottish Government.”

Click here to view the regulations.