MSPs call for review of Scottish Housing Regulator in next parliament

The Scottish regulator sent a similarly thorough response outlining how it would address the committee’s feedback three months later.

The committee’s recommendation was welcomed by Evelyn Tweed, an MSP who changed legislation to bring in a right of appeal for Scottish housing associations against the regulator’s decisions last year.

Ms Tweed, who was one of the SNP members of the committee but is not standing for re-election, said serious concerns had been raised with parliament about the cost of regulation and impact on smaller organisations.

She said: “When the SHR intervenes, tenants are left footing the bill and, in some cases, communities lose control without clear evidence of better outcomes.

“Yet parliamentary scrutiny is not structured to get to the bottom of these issues, meaning they too often fall through the gaps. Momentum must not be lost as parliament moves into a new session.

“While committees need flexibility, public bodies that are accountable to parliament must be subject to a more structured and consistent approach to scrutiny.”

The SHR said: “We welcome engagement with the Scottish parliament, primarily through scrutiny work with the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee. 

“We will work with the new parliamentary committee on any review it wishes to undertake.”

But David Bookbinder, director of the Glasgow and West of Scotland Forum of Housing Associations (GWSF) questioned why the review is necessary given the committee’s previous work.

He said: “With the SHR being directly responsible to the parliament, it’s only right that the committee should continue to take a proactive approach to its overseeing role, and the last 18 months have seen detailed scrutiny of the SHR’s role, including several opportunities for GWSF and other rep bodies to feed in their views.

“Against that background, the recommendation for the next committee to undertake a comprehensive review of the SHR is slightly perplexing, as it suggests there are numerous outstanding concerns about the SHR when the evidence from rep bodies doesn’t really point to this.

“GWSF would note in particular that over the last couple of years, we have had constructive discussions with the SHR about the critical importance of community-based associations retaining their independence wherever possible, with takeover by larger national associations being seen very much as a last resort.”