Improving Gypsy/Traveller Sites Guidance on minimum site standards, and site tenants' core rights and responsibilities. 2026 update – Annex C

Monitoring and Enforcement

9. The Scottish Government will review progress towards implementing this guidance with site tenants, site providers, and other key stakeholders including COSLA and ALACHO. We also intend to consult on linking this guidance to the Scottish Social Housing Charter, as part of the review of the Charter in 2016.

10. The Scottish Housing Regulator is the independent regulator of RSLs and local authority housing services in Scotland. Its objective is to safeguard and promote the interests of current and future tenants, homeless people, and others who use services provided by social landlords. That includes people living on Gypsy/Traveller sites provided by local authorities and RSLs. The SHR collects data annually from local authorities and RSLs, including in relation to Gypsy/Traveller sites. It also undertakes thematic inspections into specific subjects, and plans to publish a thematic inspection into Gypsy/Traveller sites later this year. The Regulator publishes its findings, and submits an annual report to the Parliament on how it has performed its functions.

11. All sites should meet the minimum standards, and have tenancy agreements that reflect the core rights and responsibilities, by June 2018. If at that time a site tenant believes that a site provider has not met the minimum standards their first step would be to raise the issue with the site provider. If the site tenant is not satisfied with the site provider’s response they may wish to make a formal complaint, using the site provider’s formal complaint procedure. If a site tenant reaches the end of the site providers complaints procedure and is still not satisfied they may want to refer the complaint to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, at 4 Melville Street, Edinburgh EH3 7NS, telephone 0800 3777 330, or email: enquiries@scottishombudsman.org.uk. A site tenant can also report a Significant Performance Failure to the SHR. A Significant Performance Failure would be something that a site provider does, or fails to do, that puts the interests of its tenants or service users at risk and will affect many, or all, of the site provider’s tenants or service users. Further information on a Significant Performance Failure is available on the SHR website. A site tenant may also wish to approach a professional advice organisation for help, such as Citizens Advice Scotland (telephone 0808 800 9060) or Shelter (telephone 0808 800 4444).