Legal protection to ensure that families across Scotland are only evicted by social landlords [1] as an absolute last resort must be put in place by the Scottish Government as a matter of urgency.

The call comes as a Shelter Scotland report [2] released today (Tuesday) shows that social landlords evicted 3,297 tenants during 2008-9. The majority of these were for rent arrears.

The housing charity's 2nd annual report on evictions – Evictions by social landlords in Scotland 2008-09 – shows overall progress has been made on reducing the numbers of people affected by eviction. But it argues more must be done to protect social tenants from the trauma of losing their home.

Shelter Scotland is urging the Scottish Government to make sure that families facing eviction from social housing have the same legal protection as struggling home owners. The charity wants to see a pre-court protection for social tenants, as part of a recession-fighting package of legislation aimed at keeping people in their homes. This pre-court protection would set out all the actions social landlords must take before an eviction can call in court [3].

The charity is also urging other councils and Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) to 'follow in the footsteps' of pace-setting landlords, like Stirling Council and Glasgow Housing Association (GHA).

Major achievements on reducing evictions over the past year have included: Stirling Council being the first council in the UK to ban evictions for rent arrears; GHA's revised rent arrears policy resulting in a 24 per cent drop in evictions; and the Scottish Government-led Evictions Summit recently examined whether protection for social tenants is adequate.

Gordon MacRae, Head of External Relations, Shelter Scotland, housing and homelessness charity, said: 'Since we put the spotlight on evictions in last year's report, we've been heartened by the progress that has been made on reducing eviction for rent arrears, with overall evictions by social landlords down nearly 8% on the previous year. However, with nearly 3,300 tenants still evicted from their homes in 2008-9, more still needs to be done.

'A few landlords are leading the way, for example, Stirling Council has taken the radical step of being the first council in the UK to ban eviction for rent arrears, and Glasgow Housing Association has reduced both evictions and rent arrears. We know that eviction for rent arrears remains a crude and ineffective way of dealing with debt problems. This is highlighted by GHA's new approach and the fact that, while local authority evictions have dropped, the overall arrears bill for councils, has increased.

'All social landlords must continue to focus on keeping people in their homes and follow in the footsteps of good practice.

'But where this doesn't happen, the most effective measure must be for the Scottish Government to bring in legal protections for social tenants, similar to those being proposed for homeowners, which would ensure eviction really is a last resort.

'Scotland has set a target to give everyone the right to a home by 2012. Evicting people and then housing them under homeless legislation, at a cost to the tax payer, is simply ludicrous.'

Councillor Alasdair MacPherson, Portfolio Holder for Housing at Stirling Council, which was the first local authority in the UK to ban evictions of tenants for rent arrears, said: 'Evictions for rent arrears are draconian and an attack on the poor and vulnerable in our society. Last year, Stirling Council evicted families with children for as little as £300 in rent arrears only for them to come back to the Council via homeless legislation costing the public purse substantially more for temporary accommodation and support costs.

'Our new approach is based on early and direct face-to-face contact with tenants to shift the focus to prevention and support. There is no doubt that banning evictions for rent arrears was a bold step, but it was the right thing to do in this economic climate. Evicting families with children is not only futile, but has a serious long term impact on children's lives. Social landlords across Scotland and the Scottish Government should work together to confine evictions for rent arrears to the history books.'

Martin Armstrong, GHA Chief Executive, said: 'In 2008, we undertook a complete evaluation of the policy and procedure for collecting rent and managing rent arrears. Our new approach involves earlier intervention and more direct contact between frontline housing staff and tenants.

'Eviction is a last resort and we will explore all possible avenues before taking legal action.

'We have reduced the number of tenants evicted by 38 per cent, while reducing our total arrears bill by more than £2.5million.

'We recently ran a high-profile campaign encouraging tenants to prioritise their rent over other debts and this has contributed to us having the lowest-ever rent arrears in GHA history.'

The Shelter Scotland report, which covers 2008-9, shows that local authorities took 13,323 tenants to court last year, eventually evicting 1,773 tenants – a drop of 15 per cent from last year.

And Registered Social Landlords raised 6,385 court actions, evicting 1,524 tenants – a rise of 3 per cent from last year.

Notes to editors

1. Social landlords is a collective term for council houses and housing provided by Registered Social Landlords.
2. Download a copy of Evictions by social landlords in Scotland 2008-09.
3. The figures include evictions and post-decree abandonments (i.e. where a tenant abandons a property after a decree for eviction has been granted). This recognises that, in some cases, when facing imminent eviction, the tenant abandons the property and that, while the formal recovery of the property is through the abandonment procedure rather than the social landlord enforcing its legal right to evict, the tenant would not have abandoned the property were it not for the decree being sought and granted. This is a standard recording mechanism used by local authorities, and the Scottish Housing Regulator.
4. The current Homeowner and Debtor Protection Bill proposes that a pre-action requirement to ensure repossession is a last resort is brought into force. Shelter Scotland wants to see a similar course of action for social landlords to ensure that eviction is a last resort. This could be included in the current Housing Bill which is going to Parliament in January 2010.
5. Shelter Scotland believes everyone should have a home. The charity helps 170,000 people a year across the UK fight for their rights, get back on their feet, and find and keep a home. We also tackle the root causes of Scotland’s housing crisis by campaigning for new laws, policies and solutions.
6. Spokespeople are available for interview, telephone the media office on 0844 515 2442. An ISDN line number is available for broadcast interviews.