Annual Report 2025-26
Quick Navigation
Background
The Scottish Social Housing Charter sets the standards and outcomes that all social landlords like Ark should aim to achieve when performing their housing activities. We are accountable to our tenants and other customers for how well we meet these standards and outcomes.
Each year we have to provide a wide range of statistical information to the Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR) by the 31st of May. The SHR in turn produces a landlord report by the end of August, a copy of which can be found here.
Each landlord must produce their own annual report for tenants detailing our performance.
This year we have compared Arks’ performance to the Scottish Average.
Previously, we asked tenants and members of the Scrutiny Group what they would like in the Report. The feedback we received was that tenants would like a short 4 page summary. Whilst we have sent a 4 page summary to every tenant (an online version is available here. this is the full report.
The report has been broken down into sections:
Customer Service
Tenant Participation & Engagement
Tenant participation gives tenants an opportunity to influence decisions about the services they receive and it allows landlords to better understand the needs of our customers. Ark is committed to developing and supporting participation and engagement
What has Ark done in 2025-26 to engage with tenants?
We consulted with tenants in a number of developments about choices for property upgrades
We upgraded heating systems in 2 developments, bathrooms in 1 development and kitchens & bathrooms in 1 development. Throughout the process we involved tenants and where necessary, occupational therapists.
We consulted with tenants on the annual rent increase proposal for 26-27
We produced a 12-page consultation document for general needs tenants/guardians and a 16-page Easy Read version for our supported tenants, along with a short feedback form.
We added this information to our website and Facebook Page, pushed out a message on CX Feedback and posted it on LinkedIn. Where we had e-mail addresses, we e-mailed the consultation document providing a link to the feedback document, otherwise we posted the document and feedback form. Overall we sent the information to 413 tenants.
We got a response from 34 tenants. 8 tenants/guardians did not give us details, 9 responses were from general needs tenants and 17 were from supported tenants/guardians. 10 completed the feedback form and posted it to us and 24 completed it on CX Feedback.
We visited new tenants who moved into their homes within 4 weeks of their tenancy start date.
Throughout 25-26 we visited 22 new tenants in their homes. Overall these tenants were happy with the allocation process and their new homes.
Annual Return on Charter Tenant Report Consultation (ARC)
We asked all tenant to tell us what they thought of the 4 page summary report that was posted/e-mailed to them and the full report on the website, however we got limited feedback from Tenants about the report.
This year, please tell us what you think as we want to make sure that you understand it fully.
of the tenants that replied said they found the Tenant Report informative.
100%
Annual House Visits
We carry out annual house visits to all of our tenants. These visits allow us to gather the views and needs of our tenants, which will help inform how we improve the services we deliver in the future.
During 2025-26, We met
186
or 43% of our tenants. This was 12% less than last year. Whilst we had hoped to visit 75% of all tenants within the year, a change over of all 3 Housing & Neighbourhood Services Officers made this target a very challenging one as the new staff bedded into their roles. In addition there was a concentrated period of time spent allocating the 12 new properties in Penicuik in the lead up to their handover in March 2026.
ARK INCREASED ITS WEEKLY RENT BY
4.5%
From previous year
Rent Increase
In November 2025 we advised tenants of the proposed rent increase options for 2026/27 of 4.5% or 5.5%
Even though our costs had increased significantly, with increases in costs of materials/labour, we did everything we could to keep rents as low as possible.
The process of setting rent charges is a complex one with many variables influencing the final decision, such as:
Comparing rent charges of peer organisations
Affordability to tenants, considering rises in other costs such as energy/food
Income generated to cover costs
Inflation - Ark applied a rent uplift lower than inflation
Service charges (for items like stair cleaning/communal landscaping/furniture provision) were frozen.
The Scottish Average was 5.34%.
8.2 % of tenants respond to the consultation as shown in the table below.
A small number of tenants voted for the 5.5% increase but the Board of Management agreed on the 4.5% increase.
Due to new staff bedding into their roles, we were unable to carry out a large scale tenant satisfaction survey in 2025- 26, so the figures are the same as in 24-25. We will review our approach in 2026-27 and decide the best way to gather the views of our tenants.
The Scottish Averages show that tenant satisfaction overall has increased between 2% and 5% compared to 24-25..
Tenancy Sustainment
In asking about this indicator the Scottish Housing Regulator wants to know how many tenants stay in their home for 12 months or more. If a large number of tenants leave their tenancy within 12 months this may indicate underlying issues such as high rents/service charges which are unaffordable to tenants; poorly maintained stock; serious repair issues or serious anti-social behaviour.
Ark aims to achieve high levels of tenancy sustainment through the provision of relevant and timely information, advice and support to tenants allowing them to keep to the terms of their tenancy agreements and remain in their homes.
The housing team work to ensure that allocations are made appropriately, rent accounts are kept up to date and anti-social behaviour and estate management issues are dealt with as efficiently as possible to help tenants to undertake their responsibilities as tenants
As Table 2 above shows, in 2025-26 97.73% of tenants who started a tenancy the year before, remained in it for 12 months or longer. This is an improvement on the year before and higher than the Scottish Average.
What is Ark doing to help tenancy sustainment?
Allocating Ark Properties Legally
Before we allocate a property we carry out a number of checks and hold discussions with prospective tenants to make sure the property is suitable for them.
Where tenants receive care & support, we work closely with the Care & Support provider to ensure that the property is suitable for that individual.
Sign up and settling in Visits
In addition to the pre-allocation checks, we provide new tenants with a comprehensive sign up pack and carry out face-to-face sign up meetings where we explain the terms and conditions of Ark’s tenancy agreement that they are expected to sign.
We will carry out a visit within 4 weeks of the new tenant moving into the property. This allows us to check whether they have moved into the property, settled in, are paying their rent on time or claimed any housing costs that they may be entitled to.
Where there is a supported tenant, it can be difficult to carry out a settling in visit for a number of reasons. These include where a Guardian might be in place and it is difficult to arrange a meeting with them; the supported person might not want to speak to us when we arrive; the supported person may not be able to communicate with us.
In 2025-26, we carried out
78%
of the Settling in Visits due in the year.
ASB
Anti-social Behaviour
We want you to be happy and safe in your home. We work to ensure that any issues of anti-social behaviour are dealt with as quickly as possible and in accordance with our procedures and policies.
Ark had 4 more cases than the previous year. Where we had a responsibility to get involved, we resolved all but 2 cases within the year. These 2 cases arose towards the end of March 2026 so were carried forward into April 2026 to be resolved.
Overall Ark has 5.2 cases of anti-social behaviour for every 100 properties. This is lower than the Scottish Average which was 7.2 cases/100 properties.
What is Ark doing to help tackle Anti-Social Behaviour?
As the previous figures show, the number of anti-social behaviour cases are relatively low.
When a report is received Ark has a process to follow - it will contact the party reporting the issue and the party or parties being complained about. Often an initial conversation is enough for the issue to be resolved. If the issue continues Ark will issue a written warning and if the problem continues and is serious enough can start court action.
Encourage neighbours to speak to each other
We do however encourage neighbours, in the first instance, to speak to each other in an open and respectful way to discuss and resolve issues without involving Ark, as investigating and dealing with anti-social issues can be very time consuming.
Ark, as a landlord, cannot get involved in issues where neighbours fall out with each other, as nothing that we can do will resolve this.
Converting tenancies to Short Scottish Secure Tenancy (SSST)
Tenants moving into a home , unless they are sharing with others, usually get given a Scottish Secure Tenancy Agreement (SST). The Housing (Scotland) Act 2014 allows us to convert this to a Short Scottish Secure Tenancy where there is evidence of anti-social behaviour. When a tenant is issued with a SSST, it means that if they continue to act in an anti-social manner Ark can apply to a court to repossess their property more quickly.
We Evicted
0
Tenants. This is the same as in 2024-25
We always try to work closely with tenants to resolve issues rather than have to take court action and evict a tenant.
Complaints & Feedback
Your complaints and feedback provide us with valuable information, which we use to improve how we deliver services to customers.
At Ark we are committed to providing the highest standard of service to our tenants. However we accept that, despite our best efforts, there may be occasions where our customers are not fully satisfied with the service that we have provided.
Complaints: 2025-26
Our complaints handling process reflects Ark’s commitment to valuing customer complaints, and has been designed to resolve dissatisfaction as close as possible to the point of where our services are being delivered.
Our approach, where we aim to ‘get it right first time’ follows that set out by the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman.
Complaints give us valuable information which we can use to improve our service provision. By analysing complaints this will help us prevent the same problem from happening again. For our staff, complaints provide a first-hand account of our customers’ views and experience, and can highlight problems or offer better ways of doing things which we may otherwise miss.
The complaints procedure has two stages.
These are Frontline or Stage 1 complaints which are deemed to be relatively straightforward and can be responded to within five working days or less.
Investigations or Stage 2 complaints are considered to be more complex and these will usually be responded to within twenty working days.
The tables below shows our performance for complaints handing for 2025-26, with Table 4 showing the number received at each stage.
Table 5 shows how long we took to deal with complaints at each stage. We were able to resolve front line complaints more quickly and within the 5 day target. Stage 2 complaints took longer to resolve than the previous year and on average were out with our 20 day target. This is because some of the complaints were about more than one point and involved contacting external parties therefore took longer to investigate.
For those who make a complaint, if they remain unhappy have we have completed our investigations, they have the right to take their case to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman. In 2025-26, 4 cases were referred to the SPSO. Following their investigations, no further action was taken by them.
Learning From Complaints -
Ark continues to promote service improvement by embedding learning from complaints. Notable actions in 2025-26 include:
Ark's Homes
Quality of Housing
The Scottish Housing Quality Standard (SHQS)
This is the main way the Scottish Government measure housing quality. In order for our properties to meet the Scottish Housing Quality Standard (SHQS), they must:
be compliant with the Tolerable Standard;
be free from serious disrepair;
be energy efficient (this has been superseded by the Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing (EESSH));
have modern facilities and services; and
be healthy, safe and secure.
We have identified what our key investment priorities should be over the next five years.
Ark’s SHQS compliance continues to show a positive upward trend, with ongoing investment helping to reduce the number of outstanding SHQS compliance failures. During 2025/26, Ark successfully secured ECO4 and SHNZH funding, enabling the delivery of two major heating and hot water upgrade programmes. As a result, 58 tenants benefited from the installation of modern, energy-efficient heating and hot water systems, improving comfort, reducing energy consumption, and enhancing the overall quality of their homes.
EESSH Performance statistics
The Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing or EESSH was introduced in March 2014 by the Scottish Government. The standard sets milestones to encourage landlords to improve on the energy efficiency of social housing. EESSH was reviewed in 2018-2019 and a new EESSH2 milestone was agreed to:
“All social housing meets, or can be treated as meeting, EPC Band B (Energy Efficiency rating), or is as energy efficient as practically possible, by the end of December 2032 and within the limits of cost, technology and necessary consent.”
Ark currently have:
Properties which meet the requirements
247
Properties which fail to meet the EESSH milestone requirements
60
This is mainly due to the property having an energy efficiency rating of D or E.
EESSH2
Ark’s approved Asset Management Strategy and investment plan supports the transition to EESSH2 and targets the necessary areas for improvement to ensure by 2032 all our homes will be fully compliant with the 2032 energy standards.
Repairs & Maintenance Investment
The investment work included:
|
|---|
During 2025 - 26 Ark Spent
£676K
On delivering repairs, routine and cyclical maintenance.
We Invested
£30k
in bringing empty properties back up to a lettable standard.
We were able to recover £39K in rechargeable repairs and insurance claims.
In 2025-26 Ark Completed
100%
of gas safety checks were completed on time.
of repairs were completed right first time.
97.08%
which was better than the Scottish Average of 95.29%.
A breakdown of response times are shown in Table 7 below.
In 2025-26
386
emergency repairs completed in an average of 3.8 hours. This is a further improvement from 7.7 hours in 2024-25, and within the target of 4 hours which we set for our contractors from September 2025.
In 2025-26
1027
non-emergency repairs completed in an average of 8.28 days. This was quicker than it took in 2024-25 when it took on average 10.1 days, however was slightly over the new target of 8 days.
The repairs and maintenance performance below show an improvement in the time taken to respond and complete emergency and non-emergency repairs in 2025-26.
Grant Funded Medical Adaptations
Each year Ark receive grant money from the Scottish Government to adapt Ark owned properties to better suit the needs of its tenants. This can be a ramp, level access shower, grab rails, bannisters, electric opening doors and a variety of other alterations.
£52,000 of grant money for adaptations was sourced from a grant fund allocated by the Scottish Government. or the City of Edinburgh Council.
IN 2025 - 26 ARK SPENT
£52K
Adapting 13 properties for medical needs. More information can be found in Table 8 below.
Despite there being an increase in the funding provided by the Scottish Government compared to the previous year, we were still unable to do work to 6 properties. We hope to do that this year.
Finance
How we spend tenants' money
How £1 of Rent Is Spent
The pie chart to the right shows how each £1 of rent received from tenants is spent. The majority of spend is on the upkeep of the properties, these include major, reactive, cyclical and void repairs. As at 31st March 2026 this spend equates to 48p of each £1 spent. Staffing costs were 14p of the spend. Other running costs were 29p and relate to items like insurance and administration. Loan repayments were 9p.
Breakdown of how rent is spent
Other KPI's
Table 9 above shows some performance related KPI's linked to rent collection and arrears.
The Housing Team had the 12 new properties to relet in the year but were still able to relet the other 28 lets within 13 days.
As the universal credit roll out was completed in 25-26, the year continued to be a challenging one for tenants in paying their rent. This is reflected in the 1% increase in arrears at year end compared to last year. Nevertheless we had another year where we did not evict any tenants because of rent arrears.
Value for Money
The Scottish Housing Charter Outcome 13, Value for Money sets out: “Social landlords manage all aspects of their businesses so that tenants, owners and other customers receive services that provide continually improving value for the rent and other charges they pay.” As we did no collect any mew data in 25-26, the figures below remain the same as in 24-25.
Tenant Satisfaction Survey
Percentage of tenants who feel rent for property represents good value for money (%)
Table 10 above shows the number of properties within each category (1 apartment = studio flat; 2 apartment = 1 bedroom property, etc.), the average weekly rent for that property type, the Scottish Average and the difference between the two. As the majority of Ark homes are supported properties we have additional service charges which general needs properties may not have and this results in the average weekly rent being higher.
Tenant Feedback
We hope that you enjoyed reading our 2025-26 full report and summary reports. Please let us know what you thought about this year’s report by emailing feedback to customer.services@arkha.org.uk.
If you would like to be involved in producing next year’s annual report please contact the Customer Services Team by e-mailing email us on the above email address.