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SOCIAL LANDLORDS URGED TO TALK TO TENANTS

Consultation is the key to genuine openness and accessibility by social landlords, according to a report published today by Communities Scotland.

The study, Open and Accessible? A thematic study into how social landlords share information about performance and governance, aims to provide a national picture of the level of information registered social landlords (RSLs) and local authorities provide to their tenants and other people who have an interest in their services.

The report found examples of positive practice across the social housing sector with the best results coming from organisations that had consulted users about what information they wanted.

It concludes that consultation rather than legislation seems to be the key to genuine openness and accessibility.

Karen Watt, director of Regulation & Inspection at Communities Scotland, said:

“People increasingly expect openness in the housing sector, as in other areas of service.

“We found good examples of landlords asking tenants what information they wanted and presenting it in a meaningful way. Tenants told us they want landlords to consult them about their information needs. This helps to build trust between them and their landlord.

“While there was no evidence of a deliberate lack of openness among landlords, there may be an unintentional lack of openness in some parts of the sector. The view that some tenants are not interested in the kinds of information the study was concerned with may reflect this.

“As the housing regulator we will support social landlords to achieve good practice and we will assess progress by landlords in implementing the recommendations from this study through our inspections and other regulatory activity.”

Thirteen case studies of RSLs and local authorities that demonstrate positive practices in information sharing are highlighted in the report, which is being launched at a seminar in Edinburgh today.

Notable differences in the kind of information provided were also found. For example while nine out of ten local authorities said they published committee papers and minutes on their website, only 16 per cent of RSLs did the same.

RSLs are however more likely than local authorities to publish a tenants’ newsletter or annual report with local authorities more likely than RSLs to provide information about service standards.

A number of recommendations for RSLs and local authorities are made in the report. These are that landlords should:

• gather and use information about service users’ information and communication needs. This will help to build up a community profile that will also be useful in planning other services;

• talk to tenants about their information needs and preferences;

• in consultation with service users, set service standards, monitor and report performance against them;

• consider involving tenants more in the development of newsletters and other publications;

• record, monitor and use information from complaints and other feedback to improve services, and tell service users how you have used this information;

• provide clear, well-publicised information about how to get information in alternative formats and languages;

• consider providing a summary of important decisions taken by the governing body or the council committee;

• consider monitoring the cost of providing information.

FURTHER INFORMATION

1. Open and Accessible is the sixth in a series of thematic studies by Communities Scotland’s Regulation & Inspection division.

2. Communities Scotland is the regulator of all registered social landlords and local authority housing services. Thematic studies look at a single theme or area of practice across Scottish local authority landlords and RSLs. Thematic studies complement the programme of inspections of registered social landlords and local authorities.

3. The thematic study is based on national survey research and involves tenants in reviewing information that landlords produce.

4. The report and technical annexe are available on the Communities Scotland website at www.communitiesscotland.gov.uk

Communities Scotland was abolished on 1 April 2008. This is an archived site and the contents may no longer be accurate. If you are looking for information about housing and regeneration, please visit www.scotland.gov.uk For information about regulation and inspection, please visit www.scottishhousingregulator.gov.uk.