Social landlords increase lets to people experiencing homelessness

Garry Coutts

Published today, the National Report on the Scottish Social Housing Charter 2024/25 shows that social landlords allocated 46% of their homes to people assessed as homeless, up from 44%.

Data collected via the Annual Return on the Charter (ARC) has shown:

• Tenancy sustainment for households who were previously homeless has increased to 91%;
• Overall, social landlords let 23,813 homes to people whom LAs had assessed as homeless, up by 4.9% on 2023/24;
• Social landlords let 46% of all lets to people assessed as homeless, up from 44%;
• LAs let 13,378 homes to people whom they assessed as homeless, up by 6.6%;
• LAs let 50% of their total lets to people assessed as homeless, up from 49% in 2023/24;
• RSLs let 10,435 homes to people assessed as homeless and referred by LAs, up by 2.9%; and
• RSLs let 42% of their total lets to people assessed as homeless, up from 39%.

Overall, landlords performed well against the Charter, despite the ongoing challenges facing them, their tenants and service users.

Amid a national housing emergency declared by the Scottish Government in May last year, social landlords collectively allocated nearly half of all lets in 2024/25 to people experiencing homelessness, the highest proportion since the Charter was introduced. Some landlords have focused on reducing the number of long-term empty homes to tackle the emergency, which contributed to an increase in the average time taken to re-let properties.

Today’s report also shows that:

• tenant satisfaction remains high, and while satisfaction levels among Gypsy/Travellers has increased, levels among factored owners are at their lowest since the introduction of the Charter for the second consecutive year;
• more homes meet the Scottish Housing Quality Standard than last year; and
• rent arrears have continued to fall.

The Regulator also published a suite of performance information alongside the National Report including individual landlord reports, an online interactive comparison tool, and all the statistical information landlords provided under the Charter.

Garry Coutts, chair of the Scottish Housing Regulator, said: “We know that 2024/25 was another difficult year for social landlords, their tenants and other service users. Economic uncertainty and volatility over the last few years has meant many tenants have faced financial hardship and has increased pressure on social landlords.

“Today’s report shows that, despite this difficult environment, landlords have maintained or improved performance against most of the Charter outcomes and standards. This includes areas that matter most to tenants, such as housing quality levels increasing, tenant satisfaction improving, and landlords achieving quicker response times for emergency repairs.

“Challenges remain, particularly the pressure on local authorities’ homelessness services. Systemic failure, that the Regulator identified last year, continues to impact the delivery of these services in some areas, with others at heightened risk of being impacted. We will continue to engage with every local authority and other stakeholders who have an interest in and responsibility to tackle the growing problem of homelessness.”