Private Landlord Survey – Please Help!

We want to hear from private landlords in Angus…

The national homelessness charity Crisis* is working with us to improve housing options and support in the private rented sector. This month, Crisis is conducting a survey of our landlords on our behalf.

Please help by completing the survey by 31 August.

Why are we getting in touch during COVID-19?

We recognise many landlords are seriously concerned about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on tenancies and the rental market, and may be looking for advice or options which offer support and longer term reassurances. Now more than ever, we want to ensure existing tenants get the right help and support to avoid tenancies failing.

At the same time, because of the pandemic, we have a large number of households in urgent housing need, some of whom are in temporary accommodation. All of these households are seeking long-term homes. 

What do we mean by “urgent housing need”?

This does not simply mean sleeping on the streets. It means not having a safe home. Whilst sleeping on the streets is the worst form of homelessness, this is very rare in Angus. Most people registered with us as being in urgent housing need have experienced a family or relationship breakdown.  They’re likely to be sleeping on sofas, living in unsafe or overcrowded conditions, or staying in our temporary accommodation.

Why can’t everyone get social housing?

There’s simply not enough social housing to meet demand. We have especially high demand for one bedroom homes across Angus, particularly in the Forfar and Arbroath areas. This means people who are in urgent housing need can still wait a very long time for a home. We know the private sector can help to fill this gap, as private landlords often have good quality homes in the areas people want to stay.

What’s in it for private landlords?

Through Crisis’ work with Councils and private landlords in Scotland, we know there are many successful initiatives bringing landlords and local people in housing need together.

We want to give better support and incentives to landlords to help people in housing need move into private tenancies. We also want to improve the sustainability of private tenancies, by ensuring the right services are in place for tenants and landlords, preventing unnecessary homelessness, especially as we move out of the pandemic.

We’d like you to tell us what we could do to encourage and incentivise more landlords to work with us, to provide more homes for people who desperately need them and work together to reduce tenancy problems like arrears and neighbour nuisance.

Why should landlords do the survey?

1.      it’s anonymous. You don’t need to provide your name or contact details unless you want to

2.      it’s quick. It will only take 5-10 minutes of your time – the questions are mainly multiple choice

3.      it doesn’t commit you to anything!

4.     it’s a chance for landlords to have their voices heard, and tell us what they’d like from us in future

5.    whatever your opinions, by completing this survey you’ll be helping us to help people in Angus. All landlord feedback gives us a better understanding of what they want and what we could do next

So – please help.  Thank you in advance

* Your responses will be collated and analysed by Crisis. No landlord data has been passed to Crisis.  The survey will close on 31 August. 

Please note Crisis is also working with Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Council on this subject. If you rent out properties in those areas too, you’ll be contacted by those organisations too – but you only need to complete the survey once. If you have any questions or comments on this survey or this work, please contact Lucie at Crisis: lucie.dunn@crisis.org.uk  

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