The Scottish Housing Regulator has today published its new plan for including tenants and service users in its work. The plan sets out how tenants and service users will continue to be at the heart of the Regulator’s work.
The Regulator will use a range of initiatives – many building on existing work - to understand tenants’ and service users’ views and priorities. It will continue to work with its National Panel of Tenants and Service Users. Established in 2013, the Panel now has around 450 members and lets the Regulator hear directly about the experiences of a diverse range of tenants, people who are homeless and others.
Ongoing engagement with tenant representative bodies will remain a key part of its work. It will do this through working with Tenants Together (Scotland) and bodies who work on tenants and service users’ behalf.
The Regulator will also involve tenants and others directly in its work, helping it to stay focused on the issues that matter most to tenants and service users. Its pool of independent, volunteer tenant advisors will be involved in activities such as reviewing information landlords produce for their tenants and feeding back on how the Regulator communicates.
The Regulator has also produced a short video that summarises its plan.
Michael Cameron, the Regulator’s Chief Executive, said: “We regulate to safeguard the interests of tenants and service users. So, it’s crucial that we understand their priorities and experiences.
“We look forward to continuing to work closely with tenants and tenants representative bodies to make sure we keep tenants and service users interests at the very heart of how we regulate social landlords.”
Read the Regulator’s plan for how it will include tenants and service users in its work.
Notes to editors
- The Scottish Housing Regulator was established on 1 April 2011 under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2010. Its objective is to safeguard and promote the interests of tenants and others who use local authority and RSL housing services. The Regulator operates independently of Scottish Ministers and is accountable directly to the Scottish Parliament. It assumed its full regulatory responsibilities on 1 April 2012. The Regulator consists of the Chair and seven Board members. More information about the Regulator can be found on its website www.housingregulator.gov.scot
- SHR’s approach to how it regulates social landlords is set out in its current Regulatory framework – Regulation of Social Housing in Scotland.