Council’s Housing Annual Assurance Statement Approved

Members of The Highland Council's Housing and Property Committee yesterday (30 September 2021) approved the Housing Annual Assurance Statement for 2021, which focused on the key themes of statutory requirements, legislation, charter performance, customer satisfaction and engagement.

The Statement is a regulatory requirement monitored by the Scottish Housing Regulator which oversees how social housing providers are regulated and their reporting requirements.

Highland’s 2021 Statement (which can be found at Item 5 on the website) confirms Highland Council has achieved compliance with legislative duties and how it delivers essential services to tenants. It also emphasises the importance the council places on effective tenant participation.

The statement highlights there were no health & safety breaches in 2020- 21 resulting in intervention by the Health & Safety Executive.

The Council confirms its progress towards every tenant having fire alarms in place to meet the new standard by the February 2022 deadline.

Highland also complies with the Gas Safety Advice recommendations issued by the Scottish Housing Regulator to all social landlords on 3 September 2021.

Chair of the Housing and Property Committee, Cllr Ben Thompson, provided information on the remit of the Committee in scrutinising the Council’s housing performance when representatives from the Scottish Housing Regulator liaised with the local authority earlier this year.

Cllr Thompson said: “We very much welcome our ongoing engagement with the Scottish Housing Regulator. Our Assurance Statement will provide them with a helpful insight into the processes we follow and the priority we have on tenant safety and rent affordability.

“This year’s statement is again very positive and underpins the hard work of everyone in our housing service, particularly against the backdrop of lockdowns and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.”

Having gained Committee approval, the Assurance Statement will now be submitted to the Scottish Housing Regulator.