Publication - Impact assessment

Rented Sector Reforms: Fairer Scotland Duty Assessment

Published: 31 July 2024
From: Minister for Housing
Directorate: Local Government and Housing Directorate
Topic: Housing
ISBN: 9781836015703

Fairer Scotland Duty (FSD) Assessment for Rented Sector Reforms

Supporting documents

Footnotes

1 A New Deal for Tenants - draft strategy: consultation - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

2 Introduced | Scottish Parliament Website

3 See footnote 2

4 Scottish Household Survey 2022: Key Findings - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) There is evidence to suggest that social rented and private rented households may be slightly under-represented in the 2022 achieved sample. Users should take this into account when interpreting totals aggregated across all housing tenure groups.

5 There are some limitations in the SLR data, such as the fact that registrations last for a period of three years and there could be a time lag in landlords de-registering properties no longer available for rent; also data for 2018 and 2019 was affected by changes in the underlying IT system and is not used in this summary.

6 Housing Statistics 2022 & 2023: Key Trends Summary - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

7 Statistical information | Scottish Housing Regulator

8 Supporting documents - Scottish Surveys Core Questions 2022 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

9 Includes ‘White: Irish’, ‘White: Gypsy/Traveller’, 'Roma', 'Showman/Showwoman' and ‘White: Other White Ethnic Group’

10 ‘Asian' includes the categories Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British

11 ‘All other ethnic groups' includes categories within the 'Mixed or Multiple Ethnic Group', ‘African’, ‘Caribbean or Black’ and ‘Other Ethnic Group’ sections

12 See footnote 11

13 See footnote 11

14 See footnote 11

15 Scottish Household Survey 2022: Key Findings - Housing data table 1.8.

16 Housing costs include the following where applicable: rent (gross of housing benefit); water rates; mortgage interest payments; structural insurance premiums; ground rent and service charges.

17 The average monthly rent for a two-bedroom property in the private rented sector in the year to September 2023 was £841 (source: Scottish Government, Private Sector Rent Statistics, Scotland, 2010 to 2023) as compared with an average monthly rent (across all dwelling sizes) of £380 in the social rented sector in 2022-23 (source: Scottish Housing Regulator, Charter indicators and data by outcomes and standards).

18 Scottish Government analysis of the Department for Work and Pensions’ Households Below Average Income dataset (produced from the Family Resources Survey), which is used to produce the official income and poverty statistics.

19 Table 14a in Poverty and Income Inequality in Scotland 2020-23 Three-year averages download data. Note that while headline poverty rates are usually based on three-year averages, the estimate for 2020-23 includes only two years’ data since survey results from 2020-21 are not used due to the impact of Covid-19.

20 Table 24a in Poverty and Income Inequality in Scotland 2020-23 Three-year averages download data. The estimate for 2019-22 is used instead of the most recent estimate for 2020-23 because, due to small sample size, the estimated child poverty rate in the private rented sector is not available for 2020-23. Note that while headline poverty rates are usually based on three-year averages, the estimate for 2019-22 includes only two years’ data since survey results from 2020-21 are not used due to the impact of Covid-19.

21 Wealth in Scotland 2006-2020 (data.gov.scot)

22 Additional poverty analysis 2021 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot). Statistics quoted here are for 2017-2020 rather than 2020-23 because the sample size in the 2020-23 dataset for privately rented households in the fourth and fifth highest income quintiles is too small to derive an estimate. The 2020-23 data shows that privately rented households in the lowest income quintile spent 51% of their income on housing costs, as compared with 23% for households in the third income quintile.

23 From YouGov online polling for Scottish Government; fieldwork: 5-7 March 2024; sample of c.1000 adults 18+ across Scotland each wave; weighted to be fully representative demographically and geographically. Data tables for all adults can be found here: Public attitudes to cost of living and other topics: tracker - data tables

24 This was part of a prompted list of potential concerns in the next 2-3 months

25 What do lower income tenants in Scotland’s private rented sector want to see from a new rented sector? - UK Collaborative Centre For Housing Evidence

26 UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence (2022), Living in Scotland's private rented sector: a bespoke survey of renters' experiences

27 Indigo House (2020), Rent Better: Wave 1 Baseline Report

28 RentBetter Wave 2 Full Reports | Rent Better (indigohousegroup.com)

29 Supporting documents - A New Deal for Tenants - draft strategy: consultation - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

30 A New Deal for Tenants: consultation analysis - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

31 Rent control: equality impact assessment results - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

32 Citizens Advice Scotland (2023), Illegal Eviction: Experiences of CAB clients in Scotland

33 Landlord and tenant engagement questionnaire on rented sector reform - Scottish Government consultations - Citizen Space

34 New deal for tenants - rented sector reform proposals: consultation - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

35 Rented sector reform: landlord and tenant engagement questionnaire - analysis report - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)