Review of Section 11 of the Homelessness (Scotland) Act 2003

This research report reviews the effectiveness of Section 11 of the Homelessness (Scotland) Act 2003, as an early intervention tool to prevent homelessness.

- Over two years after its implementation, this report reviews the operation of Section 11 of the Homelessness (Scotland) Act 2003, which requires lenders, private landlords and registered social landlords (RSLs) to notify the relevant local authority when they plan to initiate legal proceedings to repossess a property.

- Alongside secondary information, the report is based on local authority responses to a questionnaire to assess the impact that the Section 11 process is having on prevention of homelessness.

- Although there is guidance on using Section 11, the legislation is quite light-touch so local authorities have a lot of flexibility to decide how best to operate locally.

- Limited work has been done by local authorities to inform creditors and private landlords of their duties whereas more work has been done to engage RSLs.

- There is a wide variation between local authorities when engaging with potentially homeless households. As a minimum all local authorities are giving some sort of advice or assistance, while some are directly offering tailored one-to-one advice.

- Recording and monitoring of Section 11 notices varies, with some local authorities having no recording process in place. This is a key issue as the process is designed to help prevent homelessness. It is difficult to see how to assess its impact unless referrals are tracked to see if a homelessness application has been made as a consequence of an eviction or repossession.

- Additional engagement with creditors and landlords at a national level is needed to look at how repossessions and evictions can be avoided.

- This report sets out some recommendations to the Scottish Government and local authorities on how to use Section 11 as a homelessness prevention tool to best effect.