Eviction for Rent Arrears
The main reason for the eviction of social housing tenants in Scotland is rent arrears. Payment of rent is the responsibility of every tenant but tenants can find themselves in a variety of circumstances which make it difficult to pay their rent.
Tenants facing eviction can obtain further information and support from organisations such as Shelter and the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB).
Number of Social Housing Evictions in Scotland
The number of evictions across Scotland fell in 2009-10. From the previous year (2008-09), eviction action taken against local authority tenants fell by 29% and eviction action taken against Registered Social Landlord tenants fell by 38%. However, there is still variation in the level of eviction actions between social housing landlords. Responses to our consultation suggested more should be done to strengthen the protection for tenants and prevent nearly 12,000 cases being taken to court each year.
Protection of Tenants
Following our consultation, new measures have recently been introduced in the Housing (Scotland) Act to strengthen protection for tenants in the social rented sector facing eviction for rent arrears. The main measure is Pre-Action Requirements, which sets out the steps landlords should follow before taking eviction action for rent arrears. Regulations are currently being developed to introduce these measures.
We will continue to encourage landlords to work with tenants to ensure eviction is a last resort.
Evictions Consultation
We issued a consultation paper in March 2010, which asked for views on a number of possible options to strengthen protection for tenants in social housing facing eviction for rent arrears.