Terms Used
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Terms Explained
Tenant Participation is a broad term to cover the participation of tenants in the delivery of the services they receive from their landlord and the Scottish Government. Tenants can participate in several ways; as individuals or as part of a group. As individuals they can be registered as Armchair Tenants or Village Voices and can specify what they want to be consulted on i.e. rent setting, repair delivery, etc. There are two types of groups which are recognised by their landlords, area networks and the Scottish Government. The first is the informal group which is a loose group of tenants that meet irregularly and usually when there is a specific issue they want to be consulted on. The informal group is however not consulted as a matter of course. The formal groups are registered with their landlord and have a constitution and office bearers. They are formally consulted by their landlord, the area network and the Scottish Government. There are approximately 670 Registered Tenants Organisations in Scotland.
Registered Tenant Organisation (RTO) is a group of tenants who wish to be formally consulted by their landlord on all matters affecting them as tenants. To be registered they must have a constitution and office bearers. Once registered with their landlord the landlord must register them with the Scottish Government and keep the register up to date and make it available to the public. An RTO works within a defined area i.e. a street, a housing estate, a village or a town. An RTO receives sufficient funds from its landlord to ensure that it can carry out its duties to the tenants within its area of responsibility.
Regional Network covers more than one local authority area. There are nine regional networks in Scotland. Using Region Two as an example; the area covered is, Aberdeen City, Angus, Aberdeenshire, Moray, Orkney and Shetland. The committee of the regional network is made up of tenants from both RSL and local authorities. There are three representatives from each of the local authority areas making a total of eighteen members in the case of region two. The regional networks are new and will have direct access to senior civil servants. They will also be consulted directly by the Scottish Government. The member of the regional networks have already met with the minister
Armchair Tenants/Village Voices are individual tenants who want to be consulted on matter that affect them as tenants but do not wish to belong to and informal or formal group. They are two distinctive groups; first the armchair tenants, these are tenants who want to be consulted in their own right as an individual tenant for their own information. Village voices are individual tenants who want to be consulted but will share the information with their neighbours and friends, they will also keep their neighbours up to date and pass their neighbours opinions to their landlord. Both types of individual tenants have to register an interest with their landlord and the best way of doing this is to inform their housing officer
Tenants Regulation Advisory Group (TRAG) is a working group of tenants and Scottish Government officers which started in 2002 to inform the Regulation and Inspection Directorate what and how they thought the services they received from their landlords should be assessed during the inspection process. The tenants on the group are all volunteers and come from all parts of Scotland, from different types of landlords and different types of environments.
The restructuring of the Scottish Government Departments culminated in the Regulation and Inspection Department becoming independent of the Scottish Government and being re named The Scottish Housing Regulator. The Scottish Housing Regulator retained the services of TRAG and have enhanced its remit.
Tenant Assessors are highly trained tenant volunteers who form part of every inspection team. Each inspection team has one or two tenant assessors who talk to tenants of the landlord being inspected either as individuals or in their groups. The tenant assessors also talk to officers and other service users of the landlord. The tenant assessors also take part in desktop inspections which is looking at the landlord’s publications to ascertain if it meets all the regulations which are in force at the time. They also take part in thematic studies: these studies look at theoretical possibilities of government and landlord actins on the tenants.
Affordable Housing is a broad term to cover housing that usually has some form of subsidy from the Scottish Government to enable access to it from those who wish to rent or are otherwise not able to compete on open market prices. This can include low cost home ownership/shared equity schemes which mean that the full cost of home ownership is subsidised. It does not mean that houses are built to any lesser standard than would normally be used and all houses have to conform to building standards.
Social Housing is a broad term used to cover housing provided for renting, primarily through either the Local Authority or Registered Social Landlords (Housing Associations).
Housing Associations (HA) are not for profit organisations whose primary function is to supply houses for rent to the social sector. The rules and regulations governing HAs is laid down by the Scottish Government. In many cases an HA has taken over the control and management of a local authorities council houses. Housing Association which rent to the social sector are registered with the Scottish Government and are known as Registered Social Landlords (RSL).
Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR) is an organisation independent of the government but answerable to ministers. The SHR lays down the rules and regulations which govern RSLs and local authorities housing department under the guidance of ministers. The SHR also supplies the inspection teams which inspect all RSLs and local authorities housing departments.
Right To BuySignificant changes to the right to buy for new tenants of local authorities and registered social landlords were introduced in The Housing (Scotland) Act 2001. In particular the Act introduced the modernised right to buy, which applied to new tenants from September 30, 2002. This modernised right to buy has a maximum discount of 35 per cent or £15,000, whichever is lower. Generally tenants with a right to buy prior to September 30, 2002 will retain the right to buy on existing terms, although this may change if they change their tenancy. Tenants involved in stock transfer will have special arrangements in place which will be discussed as part of the transfer process. If a landlord has carried out modernisation or significant levels of maintenance on a house in the preceding 10 years, then this can be taken into account in setting the price paid after discount. These are known as the 'cost floor' rules. Tenants of registered social landlords (RSLs) are covered by the modernised right to buy, but for most tenants this has been suspended for 10 years. The only way to confirm whether this is the case, and on what terms, is to ask the landlord concerned.
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