Scottish Government

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Homelessness statistics

26/11/2009

Scotland's Chief Statistician had provided provisional statistics on notifications to local authorities under Section 11 of the Homelessness etc (Scotland) Act 2003.

Section 11 of the Homelessness etc (Scotland) Act 2003 came into force on April 1, 2009. It gives local authorities early notice of households at risk of homelessness due to eviction. Section 11 places a duty on landlords (except local authority landlords) and creditors to notify the relevant local authority when they raise proceedings for possession or serve certain other notices.

This release provides provisional information about the number of notifications to local authorities in Quarter 2 (April - June) and Quarter 3 (July - September) 2009. Information is provided separately for notifications by housing associations, private landlords and creditors. Publication of the information has been brought forward from the planned release date of March 2009 to assist the Local Government and Communities Committee in its consideration of the Home Owner and Debtor Protection (Scotland) Bill.

In drawing conclusions from this analysis it is important to bear in mind that this is the first analysis from a new data collection. Not all local authorities were able to provide the data to the accelerated timetable and it has not been possible in the time available to check odd or anomalous figures with councils.

Key findings

Table 1 shows the information provided for Quarter 2 and Quarter 3 2009 for each local authority which was able to provide the information in time. Key points are:

• The 28 councils supplying information for Quarter 2 2009 reported a total of 2,880 notifications. Of these:

• The 26 councils supplying information for Quarter 3 2009 reported a total of 3,137 notifications. Of these:

• Overall, for those authorities responding in both quarters the number of notifications increased by around 15 per cent between the second and third quarters (see Table 3) However, as this is a new data collection, changes in reported notifications between the quarters need to be treated with a great deal of caution. At this stage we can't say whether there could be a seasonal pattern to notifications and changes may also reflect the new system of notification 'bedding in'.

Table 2 aims to set the number of notifications in the context of the number of households in the relevant tenure in each local authorirty area. The final row of table 3 summarises the information for the 26 councils responding in both periods. For housing associations the table shows the number of notifications in each quarter as a percentage of the housing association stock. For private landlord notifications the table shows the number of notifications as a percentage of the estimated number of households in the tenure and for creditor notifications the table shows notifications as a percentage of the estimated number of households buying with a loan or mortgage. The note below on the derivation of esrtimates in table 2 gives a more complete explanation.

Key points, based on the available data, are:

• Notifications by housing associations in both quarters represented less than 0.5 per cent of the housing association stock:

In Quarter 3 2009 this varied from 0.07 per cent of stock in North Ayrshire to 3.03 per cent in East Ayrshire. These figures should be treated with caution however. It is possible that the high percentage of housing association notifications in East Ayrshire and low percentage in North Ayrshire may be due to notifications relevant to one authority being made to the other.

• Notifications by private landlords in each quarter represented less than 0.1% of the estimated number of households in the sector:

In Quarter 3 2009 this varied from below 0.01 per cent in Angus and West Dunbartonshire to 0.4 per cent in South Ayrshire.

• Notifications by creditors in each quarter represented around 0.3 per cent of the estimated number of households buying with a loan or mortgage:

In Quarter 3 2009 this varied from 0.14 per cent in Stirling to 0.46 per cent in Glagow City.

Section 11 of the Homelessness etc (Scotland) Act 2003 which came into force on April 1, 2009 aims to assist local authorities to prevent homelessness. The legislation requires landlords and creditors to inform local authorities when they raise proceedings for possession of a property or serve certain other notices which would put the household at risk of homelessness due to eviction.

Not all notices will lead to eviction. The requirement on landlords and creditors in section 11 aims to ensure that, at an early stage, local authorities are alerted to households at risk of homelessness due to eviction or property repossession. Local authorities may be able to respond on an individual basis to prevent homelessness occurring, and use the information in the notices to help inform strategic planning within homelessness services and of prevention activity across a range of services and assist those facing the threat of homelessness.

Derivation of estimates in table 2

Table 2 and the final column of table 3 aim to show notifications as a percentage of all in each relevant tenure.

For housing associations the table shows number of notifications as a percentage of housing association stock as at March 31, 2009, reported to the Scottish Housing Regulator in the Annual Performance and Statistics Return. This figure was used as it provides the most reliable basis for comparison between council areas.

The Scottish Housing Regulator publishes annual information by housing association at local authority level on eviction action by landlords and their outcomes.

For the private rented sector the table shows the number of notifications as a percentate of the estimated number of tenants in the sector. The estimated number of tenants was derived from the Annual Population Survey for 2008. The Annual Population Survey is a sample survey subject to sampling error and the estimates for the Islands were not sufficiently reliable to show.

For notifications by creditors the table shows notifications as a percentage of the estimated number of households buying with a loan or mortgage. This was chosen as a more appropriate base than all owner occupiers because the majority of actions by creditors will have been in relation to lending for house purchase or improvement. The estimated number buying with help of a loan or mortgage was derived from the Annual Population Survey for 2008. The Annual Population Survey is a sample survey subject to sampling error and the estimates for the Islands were not sufficiently reliable to show.