The Scottish Government

« Previous | Contents | Next »

Listen

1. INTRODUCTION

Background to Study

1.1 The then Scottish Executive commissioned Craigforth in August 2006 to carry out a study exploring the potential tensions between allocations policy and actual practice.

1.2 Over the past few years a range of legislative provisions in relation to housing allocations and lettings have been implemented across all local authorities in Scotland following the requirements set out in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001: guidance was produced in 2002 to assist staff implement the new legislation ². Recent changes to homeless legislation have also brought about a number of statutory provisions that all social landlords must adhere to in considering homeless applicants.

1.3 The legislation and guidance sets out for social landlords those issues that must be considered when allocating housing and those which cannot. Following recent Communities Scotland inspections, it became evident that in practice there appeared to be confusion amongst landlords about the rules regarding allocations and how they were intended to operate.

1.4 In the document published in 2005, Homes for Scotland's People ³, the then Scottish Executive committed to collecting wider evidence to establish whether more guidance is needed concerning the operation of allocation policies and this was re-stated in December 2005 in the ministerial statement ⁴ on the abolition of priority need in homelessness legislation by 2012.

Study Aims and Objectives

1.5 Within this context, a key outcome of this study is to establish if further guidance is required for social landlords and in particular to:

• investigate landlords views of how clear current legislation and guidance are, identifying particular areas of confusion and difficulty;
• explore areas where landlords feel there are tensions between what the legislation and guidance say and the outcome of implementing this in practice; and
• identify areas where further guidance would help landlords.

1.6 In setting out the brief to this study, the then Scottish Executive identified the following potential areas where further guidance may be required to assist landlords' understanding of the statutory and non-statutory requirements when allocating housing:

• tensions in the allocations process between meeting individual need and ensuring sustainable communities
• tensions in the allocations process between meeting needs for reasonable preference categories and housing supply issues, particularly around housing for large families and overcrowding
• tensions around allocations to homeless applicants, and section 5 referrals, and how homelessness duties link to wider allocations policy and practice
• tensions caused by duties to homeless applicants who have previously been evicted for or have a history of antisocial behaviour
• issues around local connection
• issues relating to local lettings initiatives
• understanding of the legislation in relation to the suspension of applicants
• tensions in relation to nomination agreements, particularly where these have been changed within the context of CHR implementation
• issues relating to the operation of choice based letting systems, including balancing housing need with providing housing choice
• whether local authorities and RSLs experience different tensions or difficulties.

Methodology

1.7 To meet the aims and objectives of the study, we used a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods. The methods used were:

• review of Communities Scotland Inspection Reports to identify any issues arising from recent inspections which should be explored within the survey and case studies. At the time of the analysis (August 2006), inspection reports were available for 10 local authorities and 67 RSLs.
• survey issued to all social landlords in Scotland. This included the Local Housing Organisations within Glasgow as well as Glasgow Housing Association itself. In total 264 forms were issued with 167 being returned, a response rate of 67%.
• case studies in 6 local authority areas to explore in-depth issues and concerns identified in the survey findings with RSL and local authority housing and homeless staff. A total of 135 staff participated in the case studies. The case studies included:
  • key player interviews with senior allocations staff, and policy, strategy and development staff
  • telephone interviews with senior and middle management
  • telephone interviews with senior homeless assessment staff
  • focus groups with operational allocations and homelessness officers.

1.8 A technical report setting out the method in more detail is appended.

1.9 It is important to note that the research involved gathering and reporting the views of social landlords about allocations legislation and guidance: whilst the researchers probed landlords in the case study areas about the reasons for these views, the research did not involve validating or verifying the circumstances or experiences reported.

Structure of the Report

1.10 The report is structured as follows:

Chapter 2: Context summarises the allocations legislation, including other legislation of particular relevance in allocations. It also sets out the guidance and performance standards which social landlords are expected to comply with. The chapter then analyses information from the survey on allocations systems operated by social landlords.

Chapter 3 Overview of Issues and Tensions in Allocations. This chapter provides an overview of the responses to the survey, including discussion of those aspects of allocations which landlords considered insufficiently clear and those where they considered there were tensions between policy and practice.

Chapter 4 Prioritising Individual Housing Need. This chapter considers the issues for landlords in setting priorities within their allocations policies, with discussion of reasonable preference and the particular tensions in relation to homelessness.

Chapter 5 Balanced Communities, Individual and Community Need. This chapter considers the issues in relation to the role of allocations in creating balanced communities and the issues for landlords about giving priority to individual housing need or taking account of the needs of the local community.

Chapter 6 Allocations and Wider Agendas. This chapter discusses the final theme arising from the research - the issues and tensions for landlords in defining the appropriate relationship between allocations policies and priorities and wider agendas in housing and other areas.

Chapter 7 Conclusions and recommendations. This final chapter summarises the main findings from the research and sets out recommendations.

« Previous | Contents | Next »