Working with your community to solve housing problems

If you have a housing problem that’s affecting your neighbours as well, you could work together to get it fixed.

As a group, you could take collective action to complain to your landlord, raise awareness of the issue, and campaign for better policies or practices.

Joining an organised group

There may be membership groups in your area that could help.

Tenants unions

A tenants union is an organisation that campaigns on housing issues and supports members with specific problems, including:

repair problems and housing conditions
preventing evictions
unaffordable rent increases

Check if there’s a branch of the Living Rent tenants union near you.

Tenants or residents associations

A tenants or residents association is a group that works together to improve the local area and represent members’ views about housing issues.

Check local noticeboards or search online to find associations in your area. If you rent from a council or housing association, ask your housing officer if there’s a tenants association you can join.

Setting up your own group

You could start your own informal group to take action together.

Talk to your neighbours about the problem you’re having, and ask for their contact details. You could set up an email thread or a group chat to discuss what to do.

You can also start an official association as a group of 3 or more people. Check our advice on setting up a tenants or residents association.

Actions you can take as a group

Complaining as a group can help get problems fixed faster. If multiple people are reporting the same problem, your landlord or the council might take it more seriously.

Complain to your landlord

Write a complaint that explains:

what the problem is and how long it’s been going on for
who it’s affecting
what you want your landlord to do about it
what steps you’ll take if they do not respond – for example, contacting your MSP or taking legal action

You can each make a separate complaint, or get your group to sign their names on the same letter or email.

Check our advice on:

Report a private landlord or letting agent to the council

If you rent privately, your landlord or letting agent must be registered, and the council should make sure they’re following the rules.

Report the problem to the private renting team, and ask the other members of your group to do the same.

If multiple people are reporting the same landlord or letting agent, the council might be more likely to take action.

Find your local council on mygov.scot.

Contact environmental health

If there are health or safety issues in your home or local area, the council’s environmental health team could help.

Check our advice on contacting environmental health.

Contact your MSP or councillor

Getting an MSP or councillor involved can make your landlord take your problem more seriously.

They could also help you raise awareness of the issue in the council or in government, and support changes to policies that could improve things.

Check our advice on contacting an MSP or councillor.

Make a group complaint about a social housing provider

You can make a group complaint to the Scottish Housing Regulator if:

the problem affects a group of tenants who rent from the same council or housing association
complaining individually has not solved the problem
you have serious concerns about your council or housing association

For example, it could be a serious concern if they've repeatedly failed to:

do repairs or safety checks
respond to complaints
consult with tenants about rent increases

Check the Scottish Housing Regulator's guidance on group complaints.

Last updated: 9 January 2025