George Walker – Blog – Urban Landlord Group meeting – 18 June 2025
We held the sixth meeting of the urban landlord group on 18 June 2024. This is one of the three standing groups of senior people from Registered Social Landlords we meet with regularly to discuss important and topical issues in social housing in Scotland. We meet with the groups to help us understand the challenges faced by those we regulate.
The Group first discussed emerging challenges around tenant and resident safety, and in particular fire safety. Members highlighted recent examples of them uncovering problems in new and older homes around fire safety breaks or stops and on compartmentalisation being compromised by works undertaken by others, including utility providers / installers. The group members recognised the importance of landlords having their own quality control when building new homes, particularly having an effective clerk of works. However, they also highlighted the crucial role of local authority building control in providing assurance on the quality of new homes, and expressed concerns that in some local authorities this is not appropriately resourced. The discussion highlighted the wider issues, and challenges, around the quality of landlords’ stock of homes and the need to have a good understanding of their condition and potential risks that may be present.
The Group then touched on SHR’s role around community interests, especially when a community-based RSL may be considering a transfer of its homes to another social landlord. I highlighted that the legislation that governs SHR’s role and functions set it to be neutral on the form of an RSL and so it was difficult for it to adopt different regulatory positions on different types of RSL, or to favour one form over another. I also referenced the legislative changes in 2018 which removed SHR’s powers of consent, thereby limiting its role in, and influence on, proposed transfers. That said, there may be scope for sector-led guidance on the handling of transfers, and SHR is meeting with the Glasgow & West of Scotland Forum to explore the potential of further guidance around this issue.
The Group’s discussion moved on to the one year anniversary of the declaration of a national housing emergency, and recent developments including the elevation of housing to a Cabinet level post in the Scottish Government. This was welcomed, although members were keen to see what practical differences this would make to the response to the housing emergency. The Group also touched on the publication of the Housing Investment Taskforce report, with questions around the purpose and value of the proposed new entrants and for-profit social housing providers.
Group members flagged that they still have tenants who may be impacted by the proposed turn off in June 2025 of the Radio Teleswitching Signal (RTS), which switches electricity meters between different tariff rates at different times of the day. Members were keen to promote an extension to the timescale for the switch off to give more time for the installation of smart meters in affected homes. Not long after our meeting, Ofgem announced a phasing of the RTS switch off to allow more time for energy suppliers to make the necessary changes to people’s meters.
The Group ended its discussion on views about how effective SHR was in engaging with landlords and what, if anything, it could do to improve this. Members were generally positive about the landlord groups, and suggested some ways in which the meetings could be further improved. There was a consensus that more regular engagement directly with a landlord’s regulation manager – ideally annual visits – could further enhance relationships. This is an ambition of SHR, although resources make it challenging to achieve.
As I am stepping down from my role in SHR at the end of June, I took the opportunity at the meeting to reflected on my eight years as Chair. I firstly recognised the huge contribution that social landlords make to the lives of tenants and residents, and to their local communities; I have seen this first hand as someone who was brought up in a home provided by a social landlord. Over my tenure I have seen improvements in governance in the sector – although it was already great in many landlords – and I believe that developments like the Annual Assurance Statements have helped in that improvement. I see the range of wider activities that social landlords undertake, that go well-beyond their landlord role, as adding real value to the people they serve. Of course, there are many risks and challenges ahead, but social landlords must be at the heart of tackling these risks and challenges. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at SHR, and I wish everyone involved in social housing all the best for the future.