Enhanced Enforcement Areas Scheme (Scotland) Regulations 2015 local authority guidance

Annex 2: Types of evidence that would support a decision to apply for designation

Evidence of poor environmental standard:

• House condition information, including numbers of properties that are below tolerable standard, are in serious disrepair, are empty or have been abandoned.
• Information on "substandard" homes in the private rented sector as set out in section 69 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006.
• Dangerous Building Activity in relation to homes in the private rented sector under sections 29 and 30 of the Building (Scotland) Act 2003 and Defective Building activity under section 28 of the same Act.
• Complaints to the Private Rented Housing Panel about the condition of the property.
• Numbers of rent penalty notices served.
• Owners repeatedly failing to pay their share of repair costs.
• Statutory notices under housing, building standards or planning legislation.
• Levels of infestations of vermin, cockroaches or bed bugs.
• Number of abatement notices served in relation to house condition, waste, pest control and other matters associated with living conditions.
• Information or action taken under the Public Health (Scotland) Act 2008, Parts 3 or 5.
• Numbers of statutory Environmental Health Notices issued.
• Evidence from health practitioners that housing conditions are affecting the health of tenants.

Evidence of overcrowding

• A disproportionate demand on refuse collection and cleansing services over a period of time compared to other parts of the local authority area with a similar density of property. This could either be a demand to collect refuse out with established lift and disposal cycles, or requests from the community council, community groups or elected representatives to carry out a major clear up operation.
• Using information from school rolls, health service access and other data, including information gathered for the purposes of landlord registration.
• Evidence and, or complaints from neighbours or community groups or community councils.
• Use of Overcrowding Statutory Notices (Part 3 of the Private Rented Housing (Scotland) Act 2011 - the Scottish Government plans to bring these provisions into force later in 2015).

Evidence of antisocial behaviour

• Information showing that the number of antisocial behaviour orders, reports of nuisance to the police, operational assessments carried out by the police, antisocial behaviour teams or community safety teams and complaints received under any part of the Antisocial Behaviour (Scotland) Act 2004 are disproportionately large relative to the size of the area.
• Requirement to install CCTV cameras within the area due to concerns raised by local residents about security ( where residents are too frightened to report incidents).
• Large numbers of formal and verbal complaints about breaches or failures by individual property owners or their tenants that have been received by the local authority, a social landlord, community safety organisations or community police. Comparing these figures with figures for the same reports in other areas with similar housing density would help to illustrate the scale of the problem.
• Evidence gathered through surveillance by Antisocial Behaviour Teams.
• Numbers of closure orders served by the Police under Part 4 of the Antisocial Behaviour (Scotland) 2004 Act.
• Matters which could be considered to be antisocial behaviour but that would be considered or addressed under other legislation such as Part III of the Environmental Protection Act.