Highland Eviction Figures

The Highland Council has issued a response to the publication of figures on evictions for rent arrears by Shelter Scotland. 

The Council can confirm that during 2009/10 there were 29 evictions carried out due to rent arrears amongst its 13,500 tenants, an increase of 5 cases compared to the previous year. The Council has also defended its current approach to dealing with rent arrears. 

Councillor Alasdair Christie, Housing and Social Work Committee Vice-Chair stated, “The Council has a well developed policy on dealing with arrears, which focuses on early intervention and aims to ensure that tenants have access to good quality advice. We do consider eviction as a last resort, and our eviction figures actually indicate the low number of evictions we carry out compared to the number of houses we manage.  

“I think Shelter’s report is correct to highlight the issue of rent arrears and eviction, but my message to tenants is that eviction is preventable. They should contact the Council or independent advice services as soon as possible if they are having difficulty paying their rent, so that we can work with them to resolve their problem and avoid the risk of eviction.”

For all housing queries, including rent please telephone our Service Centre on 01349 886602