Research from Communities Scotland ( Report) 98.
Evaluating Scottish social landlords` progress on tenant participation.
4. Conclusions and recommendations
4.1 Impact of the Act
4.1.1 Progress and achievements
The Housing ( Scotland ) Act 2001 placed significant emphasis on ensuring that landlords had formal procedures in place for tenant participation. Our evaluation shows that most landlords have responded well to this. Landlords and RTOs agree that the Act has resulted in progress being made with tenant participation and has led to a more focused and formalised approach – with a written strategy, dedicated resources and formal stuctures for participation.
Our case studies found that most landlords are working to involve tenants in decisions. But, the way in which landlords are encouraging participation is very varied. And, landlords are still at very different stages of development five years on from the commencement of the Act.
4.1.2 Barriers and areas for future development
Although landlords have generally accepted the spirit of the Act, there are a number of areas where formal commitment to tenant participation activity could be improved.
· A minority of landlords still do not have a written tenant participation strategy. This is a requirement of the Act.
· Some written strategies do not provide information on resources, which is also a requirement of the Act.
· Some smaller landlords with a more informal approach to tenant participation are struggling to to set out their approach in writing.
· Tenants are not always involved in developing, updating and monitoring tenant participation strategies and effectiveness. Again, this is also a requirement of the Act.
· There appear to be differences in practice in registering and maintaining RTO registers, and some landlords are not passing on information to keep the central database up to date.
· The national Tenant Participation development team established by Communities Scotland has played a significant role in promoting the requirements of the Act and supporting organisations to improve their tenant participation activity. But its focus has shifted to supporting a framework for national engagement. A number of landlords, RTOs and external organisations believe there is a need for the tenant participation team to `return to its roots`, and focus on providing support to landlords and tenants at a local level.
4.1.3 Lessons learned
· Tenant participation must be backed up by support and resources- The presence of a written strategy does not in itself demonstrate that landlords are committed to tenant participation. The extent to which strategies are followed through with adequate resources and support for tenant participation does vary considerably.
· National support is important to tenants and landlords- The national support team plays an important role in providing advice and guidance for landlords, RTOs and tenants-and this has been missed and diluted over the past two years as the focus of their team has shifted towards national engagement.
4.1.4 Recommendations for the future
Communities Scotland`s Tenant Participation development team
should have an ongoing role in promoting the law and best
practice, through;
· Supporting landlords to meet the law and best practice in their tenant particapation activity;
· Supporting tenants to make the most of their right to participation in their landlord`s decisions; and
· Reviewing with landlords the basis on which RTOs are registered and supported, and any changes are regularly updated.
Research conducted by ODS Consulting March 2008.
Tags: Tenant Participation
