Aberdeenshire Council’s housing stock has reduced by 20% during the period 2002 to 2011 mainly due to Right to Buy sales with far more houses and larger properties being sold than flats and smaller properties. A small number of new build properties were completed during the same period.

There is an acute shortage of family sized housing (3 and 4 bedroom houses) and over the last few years the council has operated a downsizing grant scheme to encourage tenants who are under-occupying their houses to transfer to smaller properties in order to help meet the demand for larger houses.

The housing waiting list continues to increase and has almost doubled in the period from 2002 to 2011 when 7,084 applicants were on the list. Over the same period, homeless presentations have gone up from 1,107 to 1,722 whilst relet rates within Aberdeenshire Council stock has reduced from 1,583 to 1,019.

In recent years the percentage of allocations to homeless applicants has steadily increased in order to comply with the council’s statutory duties. Consequently, fewer properties were available for other housing applicants and tenants wishing to transfer.

As a landlord, the council has a major challenge in addressing anti-social behaviour. A substantial minority of complaints are difficult to completely resolve to the satisfaction of the complainant. In addition, there is an awareness issue as some tenants’ perception of the measures a council can take is unrealistic.

Some tenants’ expectations of a quick resolution to anti-social behaviour may be unrealistic. It is not always clear in disputes who is the ‘perpetrator’ and who is the ‘victim’. Disputes can involve protracted negotiation prior to reaching a settlement.

The Scottish Housing Quality Standard guidelines places a duty on social landlords to ensure that all properties satisfy a minimum level of quality (e.g. heating, insulation etc). Within mixed tenure blocks of flats, obtaining the agreement of other owners to carry out work and pay their share of the cost presents difficult challenges.

Social housing rented stock in Scotland is 595,000, of which Aberdeenshire’s share (council and RSLs) is 17,300 (2.9%). The percentage on housing benefit nationally is 65% (varying between 42% and 74%). In Aberdeenshire, the figure is 50%. For Aberdeenshire Council, 46% of rental income is met by housing benefit, which equates to £16,000,000. This is a vital source of income and clear challenges exist when Universal Credit comes into effect between 2013 and 2017. There will also be clear challenges to RSLs in Aberdeenshire where reliance in housing benefit ranges from 11% to 100%.