What is this guide for?
This guide is for social landlords who allocate mainstream or general needs social housing in Scotland. Social landlords are local authorities and Registered Social Landlords (RSLs). Social housing is not the only way in which housing needs can be met and there are a wide variety of housing options. This guide focuses on just one of those options, social housing. It will help you understand the legal framework for allocating social housing and the flexibilities you have to respond to the needs of your communities.
We developed this guide with the support of an advisory group of housing practitioners, which included:
- Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers;
- Chartered Institute of Housing (Scotland);
- Convention of Scottish Local Authorities;
- representatives from Regional Tenant Organisations;
- Scottish Federation of Housing Associations;
- Shelter Scotland; and the
- Scottish Housing Regulator.
They are not the only ones who have helped make this guide what it is, landlords from across Scotland have provided examples of allocations in practice that have helped support and illustrate what is written in the guide. It has also benefited from the views of those who told us what they thought about an earlier draft in a consultation during August to October 2010.
This guide should help social landlords to find their way through the legislation and practice that is available for allocations. The Scottish Housing Regulator supports this guidance and welcomes clarification on the issues for landlords. As landlords you have to make sure that you comply with legislation, be able to demonstrate your actions are based on sound analysis of your local context and have in place robust monitoring arrangements. Your allocations policy must be accessible and transparent so that applicants understand how they can access your housing.
If you have any queries or comments about this guide please let us know at:
allocations@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
A practice guide
This is a practice guide that includes real experiences and approaches Scottish social landlords use to respond to common issues. There is enormous diversity amongst social landlords, while all operate within a common legal and regulatory framework, the way you meet good practice expectations will vary depending on your size and resources. The examples or approaches in this guide are not necessarily ones that you should adopt, because how you allocate your houses needs to reflect the context in which you work. So, what works well in one area, for one landlord, won't necessarily work for another. By sharing these real life examples we aim to support you to develop your responses to local issues.
It sets out the scope of local decision making and gives a range of practical examples and approaches you may wish to consider. We have set out the practice examples in a separate practice log and included links to the relevant practice examples at the end of each section.
This guide is not intended as a guide for housing officers but to inform decisions about and development of your allocation policies, processes and procedures, including guidance you develop for your staff. Although we have written this guide for landlords, it will also interest tenants and tenant organisations who help develop or revise allocation policies with landlords.
What's included
The guide allows you to dip into the relevant sections when you need advice on a particular issue. Section 1 focuses on what you must do: the legal, regulatory and equalities rules around allocating social housing. The rest of the guide builds on this to look at how these rules are put into practice and the flexibilities you have as landlords as you:
- understand your communities and develop an allocations policy which aims to meet the need and demand for your housing;
- ensure access to your housing, including working with others;
- allocate housing in line with your policy;
- create sustainable tenancies; and
- make sure that your allocations policies, procedures and processes are open and accountable.
This guide gathers and provides information on existing policy and practice. The legal, regulatory and equalities rules and the flexibilities already exist. For the first time they are brought together in a single guide. Throughout the guide there are links to other sources of information and advice which you may find helpful. For ease this Guide includes and replaces:
- SEDD Circular 1/2002 'Housing (Scotland) Act 2001: Housing Lists and Allocations' ( Section 1);
- Housing and Regeneration Circular HAR1/2009 'Housing for People Leaving the Armed Forces' (in Section 5.3); and
- 'Good Practice in Housing Management: Medical Priority in Allocations', Good Practice Note 7, Scottish Office published in 1999 (in Section 5.2 (a)).