A new report on the size and shape of the housing management workforce in Scotland has been published by the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) Scotland.

The report, 'Careers In Housing Management: How To Improve Routes Into The Profession', aims to kick start a discussion about how we can improve pathways into the housing management profession and considers the role of both the housing sector and government in helping to make housing management a career of choice.

Commenting on the report, CIH Scotland's national director Callum Chomczuk said: "Like any other profession, those working in housing are central to our success. The housing sector readily recruits outstanding people, inspiring and enabling them to be the best that they can be.

"However, to date, there has been no systematic approach to recruitment in the social housing sector and instead, practitioners often consider themselves as having 'fallen' into housing. We wanted to better understand the size and shape of the sector to inform a national workforce strategy and as such CIH Scotland has undertaken this analysis to consider the size and shape of the housing management workforce in Scotland. This estimates the trends present in recruitment and is informed by surveys of social landlords and interviews with social housing practitioners.

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"This new report sets out some of the great work already attracting talent into the Scottish housing sector, but crucially highlights where the sector and its partners in the Scottish Government must play a more considered role in communicating the value of a housing career, as well as ensuring that structures are in place to help skill up the next generation.

"We hope that this report will kick start a discussion about how we can improve pathways into the housing management profession and beyond and consider the role of both the sector and government to make housing management a career of choice so we can meet the ambitions of Housing to 2040."

Ian McLean, chair of the report's sounding board added: "This is an important Scottish report and comes at a time when there is an increased focus on the future of the housing profession and its continuing professional development across the UK.

"I hope that the report will help to provide a context in raising the profile of housing as a career and help lead the way to some practical steps to smooth the path for people who wish to pursue a career in housing."