Rented sector reform: Housing (Scotland) Bill: business and regulatory impact assessment

Monitoring and evaluation

The Scottish Government undertakes regular monitoring of the private rented and social rented sectors through a range of data and information including:

• Monthly statistics from the Tribunal
• Monitoring and analysis of published Tribunal decisions relating to Private residential tenancy evictions
• Landlord registration data
• Scottish Housing Regulator data
• Civil Justice in Scotland statistics on summary cause evictions
• Scottish Government housing statistics, including the annual Scottish Household Survey and Scottish House Condition Survey

We anticipate working with stakeholders to develop a coordinated programme of monitoring and evaluation to better understand the implementation and impacts of the Bill on the housing system and key stakeholders, including consideration of the costs and benefits outlined in this BRIA.

Although this work is still in the early stages of development, it is anticipated that it will cover a period of up to eight years to take into account the multiple years of policy implementation and allow sufficient time for impacts to be seen and evidenced. Interim reporting will be built in at key stages. The total cost of the programme is estimated at around £400,000.

There are several approaches to evaluation being considered as part of this programme, including analysis of routinely collected internal data, learning from external data and research, and bespoke new research (which could include surveys and mixed methods research). However, we will ensure the final design is proportionate to the scale of the measures, and we will actively look to make cost savings by synthesising learning across multiple different sources to minimise the need for new data collection wherever possible.