The Scottish Government

« Previous | Contents | Next »

Listen

Annex A: Draft equalities impact assessment for the Housing (Scotland) Bill -reforming Right to Buy and modernising regulation

We would like your views on this partial, draft impact assessment, which is part of the consultation on the draft Bill. We have included a number of questions and your responses to these will help us to carry out a full equalities impact assessment of the proposals.

1 Aims of the policy

2 What do we already know about the diverse needs of our target audience?

Do you have information on

Our target audience includes social landlords, their tenants and prospective tenants.

Social landlords will put the changes on the Right to Buy into practice, while the policy on modernising regulation will be implemented by the Scottish Housing Regulator ( SHR). The SHR does not provide a direct service to the community but, by regulating the services provided by social landlords, helps to maintain and improve the standard of those services. We expect both parts of the policy to bring benefits by safeguarding the stock of social housing and improving the value it provides to tenants, prospective tenants and taxpayers.

2.1 Tenants and prospective tenants

Around a quarter of Scotland's households live in social housing, and many more are on waiting lists or seeking assistance through local authority homelessness services. There is evidence from research and national surveys, including the Census, Scottish Household Survey and Scottish House Condition Survey, that certain groups of people have particular needs and experiences of social housing.

• The population of social housing tenants is on average older than that of Scotland as a whole.
• People with disabilities are more likely to rent from a social landlord than to own their home or rent privately.
• Nearly a third of households with female heads of household are in the social sector, compared with fewer than one in five households with a male head of household.
• Men between the ages of 25 and 60 are at a higher risk of rough sleeping than the population as a whole.
• Older LGBT residents may face particular problems in relation to supported or sheltered accommodation.
• LGBT residents are also at greater risk of being victims of anti-social behaviour.
• Minority ethnic communities are under-represented in social housing (and over-represented in the private rented sector).
• People from Christian religions are more likely than others to live in social housing, while Hindus are less likely to do so.

Those living in social housing are often among the most vulnerable members of society. Single pensioners are the most common household type in the sector, with single adults below retirement age the second most common group and lone parents with dependent children the third ¹. While this might suggest that these groups are most likely to need and to benefit from the protection offered by housing regulation, there is also a need to make sure the interests and housing needs of under-represented groups such minority ethnic communities are not overlooked or neglected.

We do not have detailed information on the characteristics of RTB purchasers. However, a report to Parliament on the wider impact of the RTB suggests that purchasers are increasingly younger, remain in the sector for a shorter period before buying, and are more inclined to use RTB as a means of building up equity to enable them to move to a more suitable house or a more desirable area. ²

2.2 Social landlords

There are 272 social landlords in Scotland. Twenty-six are local authorities and 246 registered social landlords ( RSLs). Between them they own and manage around 600,000 homes across Scotland, with more than half of these being council houses. Individual landlords range in size from a local authority with nearly 38,000 houses to small RSLs with fewer than 50 houses.

In terms of the services they provide, there is evidence that landlords across the social housing sector need to improve their performance in relation to equalities. A thematic study on equalities published by the regulator in 2006 ³ (following an earlier study in 2002) found a mixed picture on progress. While some landlords were doing good work on equalities, many others recognised they needed to do better and some were struggling to meet all their legal obligations. There was commonly a need for improved leadership, guidance and understanding of good practice. The SHR's inspection activity has also revealed some weaknesses in compliance with equalities legislation among social landlords.

A separate study on services for Gypsies/Travellers ⁴, also published in 2006, found that local authorities were making only slow progress in improving services for this group of people. Several councils still did not recognise Gypsies/Travellers as a distinct ethnic group. Both studies found that many landlords needed to do more in terms of gathering and using information about the community they serve and in understanding and responding to the needs of different groups within the community.

Other research has similarly identified a need for better collection, analysis and use of information. For example, a 2008 study on allocations policy and practice ⁵ found that data landlords collected was often driven by reporting requirements. Only a minority were analysing and using the information to plan or manage services. Also in 2008, an Audit Commission study on the impact of the race equality duty on council services found that local authorities generally lack full and robust information about minority ethnic communities and their needs; and that they were unable to demonstrate how consultation with these communities had influenced the design or delivery of services. ⁶

The Policy and Approach action group set up by the Government to take forward recommendations from the Crerar Review recently reported to Ministers. Among other things it proposed that scrutiny functions should be established or continued in certain circumstances. These include where there is a need for assurance about whether services are meeting regulatory requirements, such as those on equalities.

3 What does the information we have tell us about how this policy might impact positively or negatively on the different groups within the target audience?

3.1 Right to Buy

An adequate supply of decent housing at prices or rents people can afford is essential for the health and well-being of individuals and communities. It is a key foundation for sustainable economic growth necessary to deliver a wealthier, fairer society. The RTB has contributed to the reduction in social housing stock, leading to reduced availability of housing at affordable rents. In ending RTB for new social housing we aim to increase the supply of affordable rented accommodation.

Ending RTB on new social housing should increase the supply of social rented accommodation available to tenants by safeguarding new social housing from sale and encouraging social landlords (particularly councils) to build new housing. It should also help local authorities better to plan to meet local housing needs as it will give them more certainty about which properties should be available for social rent in perpetuity. However, social landlords would still be able to sell properties should they wish to, as they can at present, although in certain circumstances they will require Ministerial consent to do this.

Any increase in supply should have a positive impact by helping improve access to social housing for disadvantaged or under-represented groups. Better availability of social housing should benefit:

• prospective tenants by reducing the time they spend on waiting lists; and
• current tenants by increasing their options for transferring to a new tenancy.

In general, tenants will not have the RTB over new social housing. But they will be able to count their period in occupation of the new housing towards the minimum qualifying period and for discount entitlement purposes. They will be able to apply this time towards their RTB discount if they subsequently move to a property where they are able to exercise their RTB.

However, a tenant of a new supply social house will be entitled to purchase that house under RTB if:

• Their landlord has required them to move to the new supply house (for example, if their current house is to be demolished); or
• They were not informed in time that they would not be able to exercise their Right to Buy over the new house.

3.2 Regulation

A central principle of the policy on regulation is that the regulator should have a statutory duty to promote the interests of current and prospective tenants. And, as a public body, the SHR is bound by the duty to promote equality of opportunity in all of its activities. This is particularly important in relation to registered social landlords ( RSLs) as they are not public bodies and so are not themselves bound by the public sector equality duty. So the regulator has an important role in setting clear expectations and promoting good equalities practice in the RSL sector.

Together, the duties to promote tenants' interests and the duty to promote equal opportunities should help to safeguard the interests of all groups of tenants regardless of race, gender, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief.

However, the proposed changes place increased emphasis on publication of accessible information to enable tenants and others to make judgements about their landlords' performance and hold them to account. This could disadvantage those who have difficulty reading English. The regulator will need to be alert to this possibility and proactive in making information available in alternative languages and formats such as Braille and audio for those who need it. The SHR already offers all its published information in alternative languages and formats so this would not necessarily mean any radical change.

There are implications for landlords too. For example, self-evaluation would play an important part in the modernised system of regulation and we expect that landlords will want to involve tenants in this activity. This in turn suggests that landlords will need to publish information that is accessible and useful to all of its tenants and enables them to make meaningful judgements about the quality of services.

There will also be new information requirements for the amended policy on Right to Buy. Before offering a new supply house for let, social landlords will be required to inform prospective tenants that it will be exempt from the RTB. So both policies will require social landlords to provide good quality, accessible information that is readily available on request in alternative formats and languages. Good landlords will already be doing this. There is much positive practice to be found in the sector, although another thematic study by the regulator suggests that this is by no means universal. ⁷

4 Does the policy provide the opportunity to promote equality of opportunity or good relations?

Yes. The policy aims to provide benefits for current and prospective tenants of social landlords by helping to protect the stock of social housing and the value tenants derive from it. The provisions on RTB aim to increase the supply of social rented accommodation. Those on regulation aim to improve the performance of social landlords in providing housing and homelessness services.

The provisions on regulation also include a requirement for Ministers to set objectives for social landlords in consultation with the sector, its tenants, the SHR and other stakeholders. The objectives will be known as the Social Housing Charter and will be a statement of the high-level outcomes landlords are expected to achieve. We have already commissioned research to find out more about what tenants want from their landlords. The discussion and debate about the Charter will give us an opportunity to actively consider and promote equality of opportunity in the context of social housing. An important aim will be to establish a better understanding of the needs and priorities of diverse groups of tenants and other people using housing services.

5 Do we need to carry out a further impact assessment?

This initial draft impact assessment forms part of the consultation on the Bill. We do not have all the answers and we would particularly welcome your comments on the questions above. We would also welcome any other views you have about how (a) the changes to Right to Buy and (b) to regulation will affect equal opportunities for all groups of people.

We will publish the full impact assessment when the Housing Bill becomes law.

« Previous | Contents | Next »