Evictions by social landlords in Scotland
By: Shelter Scotland Published: December 2008
This report is about evictions from social housing – that is, housing owned by councils or registered social landlords, in the period 2007- 2008.
- Evictions by social landlords in Scotland (PDF 177.0 kb)
Summary
- Social landlords (councils and housing associations) took legal action which resulted in 3,573 tenants losing their homes in 2007-08.
- Almost all of these evictions were for rent arrears: fewer than three per cent were for anti-social behaviour.
- Social landlords are twice as likely to obtain a decree of eviction against their tenants than a mortgage lender is for a private home-owner.
- Compared to earlier years, councils are taking fewer people to court and obtaining fewer decrees against them. However, they are evicting slightly more tenants than in 2001-02 despite increasing attention being paid to prevention of homelessness.
- There are enormous local variations in the use of evictions. It is not easy to explain these by differences in the local environment.
- Evictions on this scale cannot be explained as being last resort. They run counter to the homelessness duties of both RSLs and councils and to effective management of debt and community safety.
- Shelter argues that the general acceptance of the need to avoid mortgage repossessions needs to be extended to social tenants facing eviction. Action is needed by the Scottish Housing Regulator and by individual landlords to explore alternatives to eviction action.
