ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Many people helped us with this study.
First we owe a great debt to the very many landlords (or their agents) who filled in our questionnaires. Amongst these we owe special thanks to the landlords who came to our focus groups and who joined so helpfully in the discussions.
Second, we owe particular thanks to Dr Liz Hawkins of the Scottish Government's Communities Analytical Services Division who has been our nominated officer for this project and who has offered us timely advice and support throughout.
Third we owe a particular debt to our colleague Dr Robin Smith who was a member of the research team until he left the University of Sheffield for a new post at the EC Joint Research Centre. He was responsible for doing much of the initial work on the project, liaising with local councils and others about the landlord registration data and devising the web based version of the survey.
Finally, we are very grateful to the local authorities who participated in the study. Their cooperation and assistance enabled us to conduct the survey and focus groups with landlords.