Housing and debt management experts have come together in what is thought to be the first seminar of its kind aimed at helping to deliver new ways for private landlords in the North East to engage with residents, and to tackle the problems such as anti-social behaviour and debt control.
The seminar was organised by Caroline Saul of Newcastle based Red Roof Community Engagement Services. Caroline is an expert in tenancy support services and community engagement and she used all her skills and knowledge to gather together a number of experts to give practical advice on some of the problems facing the lettings industry throughout the North East. The seminar focused on ways to help landlords work out strategies to deal with high risk tenants, tackling the ever increasing problem of rent arrears and offering advice on where to find the best landlord insurance.
Caroline said: “Some of our guest speakers were once tenants themselves who had varied problems and now work as professionals. They talked very openly about the issues they experienced, how they were treated and how they are now helping people in the community at grassroots level. Sharing their experiences and the lessons learned was very valuable to the delegates. I was fascinated to hear their experiences of how they were perceived and judged especially when they are helping others now. It’s a great flipside to where they have been to where they are now.”
More than 175 places were taken up by lettings agents and landlords and the event proved to be a great way to bring together all sides of the lettings industry. The expertise in the room was immense and diversified giving more inexperienced landlords the chance to gain knowledge that could have taken years for them to discover otherwise.