Social housing sector: Youth engagement

1. About this study

This study was commissioned by the Scottish Government in order to gain a better understanding of the baseline of youth engagement in the Scottish social housing sector.

It presents the findings of a Tenants Information Service (TIS) study, focused on the barriers that affect the success of youth engagement, whilst highlighting good practice that others can learn from.

A demographic that is often under-represented in tenant participation and engagement practices is young tenants. Establishing meaningful opportunities to increase youth engagement in housing and wider community services remains an ongoing challenge.

Thank you to the organisations who kindly participated in this study for their valued time and contributions.

In its research, this study considers:

• Participation options available for young tenants to get involved with their housing organisation;
• Training opportunities available for young tenants to develop skills, knowledge, and reach their full potential in order to participate confidently in meaningful youth engagement activities;
• The impact of Covid-19 and any challenges or opportunities, specific to engaging young tenants, that emerged as a result of the pandemic;
• The barriers housing organisations face when making efforts to engage young tenants; and
• Good practice examples that others can learn from.

Young tenants are typically recognised throughout the social housing sector as 16-24 – however, for the purposes of this study, research extends to the age of 34.

This study draws evidence from information gathered from an online survey which all Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) and Local Authorities in Scotland were invited to complete, and outlines case study findings from selected organisations.

It also considers key population and household trends, and details related housing and policy legislation.