In the last 20 years the world has changed beyond all recognition and the move to transact most of the world's business online gets more marked by the day.
In the housing world, most landlords have come to the conclusion that they cannot afford to ignore this trend as tightening resources have made face-to-face transactions unaffordable in many cases. Add to this, the drive to move the benefits system online through Universal Credit, and there is a gathering storm which threatens to undermine the "business" model of UK social housing if not urgently addressed.
Social Housing tenants are disproportionately represented among the UK's digitally excluded. While the majority of the population lives their lives on the internet, something like 25% of social housing tenants do not use the internet on a regular basis. As digital inclusion has permeated the population, those who are still not online are proving to be particularly resistant to moves to tempt them into using the internet.
John Popham has more than ten years’ experience of managing digital inclusion initiatives and delivering digital inclusion training. His approach is designed to find the touch points in people's lives and identify those applications which are likely to make people find using the internet useful and enjoyable. He focuses on the uses for the internet which are likely to make people keep coming back to it and make it a part of their lives.
It's a long-standing adage that people remember how you made them feel, not the facts you told them. How do people feel about your organisation and about the social housing sector in general? For years politicians and the media have been peddling false and exaggerated stories about social housing tenants which have "fuelled" negative perceptions and made the job of arguing for increased resources for the sector and support for tenants much harder.
The understandable reaction is to counter with facts; and facts are important, but the perceptions that exist have been created by those who tell stories which have only tenuous connection to the facts. Every episode of "Benefits Street" which take isolated cases and use them as metaphors for the entire sector create pictures in people's minds which add up to a negative viewpoint. The best way to counter this is through telling our stories. Stories about the great work our organisations do; stories about inspirational individuals, whether professional or tenants; and stories about our communities.
John Popham is a nationally renowned Digital Storyteller who uses video and social media to help people in public and non-profit organisations to tell stories about their lives and their works. This introductory session will leave participants with the skills and knowledge to tell their own stories and to pass on those skills to those they work with. Ideal for anyone in the housing "business," looking to get messages across.
Even though there may be up to 25% of social housing tenants who do not use the internet, that still means there are 75% who do, and many more who use it vicariously through friends and family.
Large numbers of social housing tenants are using the internet to tell stories about their lives and make positive and negative comments about their living conditions. Nearly every community in the country has at least one Facebook Group where local residents are discussing goings-on in their neighbourhood, and whether or not social housing landlords are engaged in those exchanges, conversations are taking place about them and their services.
This course is led by John Popham who draws in his background in Community Development and work on Digital Storytelling to help participants explore how to engage with tenants in ways which encourage positive exchange and use Facebook and other online tools to foster collaboration and community activity.
A must for anyone involved in tenant/resident engagement, digital strategy or self-service design.
The smartphone that most people have in their pocket in 2019 is as capable of shooting high quality video as most heavy and bulky broadcast cameras. The reason so many people are unaware of this is that they don't know how to get the best out of their smartphone's camera.
This course will draw on John Popham's more than 10 years' experience of using his own smartphone to shoot high quality videos as well as learning from examples from journalists at organisations including the BBC, Sky News and RTE who are using smartphones to shoot TV news reports and features. There are even full-scale feature films being shot on smartphones these days.
In this session, John will guide participants through the essentials of setting up their smartphone to capture the best quality pictures and sounds as well as techniques for identifying and telling stories through smartphone video.
A different type of training day that will benefit those who deal with advertising properties, take services to market, inspect and report on estates or looking to gather a different way of managing information in this more agile age.
You are choosing to share a day with one of the UK’s leading service charge and leasehold trainers.
When you book, you can specify what it is you want from the day. Lynda Hance will deliver her well-known overview session. You will learn about leases, rights and obligations, what landlords have to do and what leaseholders have to pay.
Put your staff in the best position to understand how to consult with leaseholders so as to maximise your income. Lynda knows how to make these subjects interesting, relevant and fun.
So, if it’s legal stuff, financials, standards, rights and responsibilities – the areas that tend to fill your in-trays, this is the best you can expect.
One thing we know about engagement in the social housing business is that there is constant change and attention. The government Green Paper called for greater scrutiny – but what does this actually mean?
Whether you are an officer or a tenant/resident, this is a course that will both inform and refresh. In fact, it’s an excellent course for the audience to be a mix of officers and tenants/residents.
The course will give confidence in meeting skills, being a committee member, understanding reports and information, asking questions, and speaking in public. Lynda Hance knows what it’s like to get involved with organisations and can help you find your feet when working with your landlord.
A perfect course to establish the engagement agenda and momentum in your organization when dealing with this change.
There’s always time to get an update on housing law.
Housing & neighbourhood managers often rely on outdated or incomplete knowledge, or sector myths and/or they too quickly ask their chosen retained lawyers, which can be expensive and often a little slow. Case law is replete with examples of where this traditional approach is found expensively wanting.
But then, there is Richard Paris. If you have not yet enjoyed a day with Richard, you are in for a treat. This training will provide delegates with real up-to-date knowledge, statute and case law and the opportunity with others to unravel complex real cases.
Richard’s ability is to make the law relevant and applicable. Try and test him out by bringing along one of your current cases. Add to the conversation that you will clearly benefit from.
Tenancy fraud is hardly new but to prevent it, find it and prove it is incredibly resource intensive in terms of time, money and return.
Fortunately, there is Richard Paris investigating with you. Exploring old and newer tools, this training course will give you the confidence to focus on longer term strategic approaches and quick tactical wins, what works and what doesn't.
So, there it is…the blend of the legal pitfalls with the map of what to do next. What’s not to like? Oh yes, spending a day with one of the sharpest housing legal brains in the business. You’re welcome.
No-one works in social housing to make people homeless but when all the non-legal stuff has been tried and hasn't worked - then litigation beckons.
Whether it is rent arrears or breach of tenancy or ASB, from completing forms, to answering tricky lawyers to eviction and what to do with stuff left behind. Here is a training course that will ensure housing staff are aware of all the necessary preparation, the pitfalls, what not-to-do and how to tackle the unexpected in court.
Someone once asked whether Richard Paris could be ‘hired out’ to help them litigate – such is his knowledge of court procedure and the law that goes with it. Only Richard can answer that, so come along and suggest whatever you can. Tell your own stories. Listen to Richard’s own deep experiences. There will be nuggets of "behaviour" that can be immediately applied.
Enjoy your day.
ASB is messy, diverse, subjective and incredibly resource intensive. Other than that, it’s easy, isn’t it?
Many housing staff dread the so-called 'low level' everyday complaints about what might seem 'petty'. But so-called 'serious' ASB might involve using any number of different legal tools.
This training course explores what works and what doesn't, how to choose the most effective tactics and even in an austerity context which other agencies should be leading on solutions, not just the housing provider.
An essential course as you build your own toolbox of remedies and actions. Luckily you are sharing the day with the sharpest of all tools – Richard Paris himself - who has been advising social landlords for almost 35 years through the quagmire of anti-social "behaviour" legislation.
You won’t regret a minute of your day.
Illegal eviction has been unlawful since the Forcible Entry Act 1381 – yet landlords of all kinds continue to make errors in this area.
Since 1988 it has also been tortuous and expensive to lose. Indeed in 2014 the Supreme Court awarded statutory damages of £90,500 to a council tenant for unlawful eviction.
To tackle 'rogue' landlords there are new legal tools and the Tenant Fees Act 2019 from 1 June bans certain fees in England. Homelessness prevention / housing options staff need to clearly understand the law, best practice and remedies to ensure potential customers can keep their homes where necessary.
With homelessness prevention and reduction top of a housing agenda, this course shares Richard Paris's immense knowledge (although he definitely wasn’t around in 1381) and practical know-how.
An essential course if you have any involvement with the private rented sector, homelessness, housing options or housing advice.
With so many more people now renting in the PRS than social housing, the tenure is increasingly ageing, diverse and mobile, yet security of tenure is weak.
Some 'rogue' landlords and agents do not comply with existing law never mind the rapidly changing legal context. This training course explores the old and new legal requirements, how assured shortholds (ASTs) should work and how best to ensure resident/landlord conflicts should be resolved.
Brilliant course that sets the PRS dilemmas in context. Richard Paris has witnessed a lot of change over his many years of housing law experience. Just ask him. His explanations and stories will entertain. But you will definitely listen, and you will take away a basket of applicable tools for your own strategy or service offer.
Action learning is a way of addressing real work challenges and learning simultaneously. As well as helping to resolve problems, it is a powerful way to develop coaching skills, including active listening and insightful questioning. Action Learning Sets are becoming increasingly used by peer groups both within and across organisations as a valuable way to build networks and develop confidence.
The workshop will be an overview of Action Learning Sets – how they work and the benefits they bring to individuals, teams and organisations. The majority of the workshop will be based around building the skills needed to facilitate successful Action Learning Sets. It will also feature the opportunity for delegates to experience a short Action Learning Set to get a feel for the process and how it works in practice.
The target audience:This session is particularly relevant to people with management responsibilities.
Part of the proven Rent Ethic approach, Barry Marlow’s ever-popular conversational and highly entertaining delivery make this day a must-have for anyone involved in social housing income management.
Universal Credit has completely shifted the context of rent collection and arrears management. Barry identifies the legacy issues that have framed the traditional processes that in turn have steered rent management for a generation. Barry believes these are no longer fit for purpose.
So, what is the 'other way'? Using a Smart Simplicity approach, Barry will challenge some of the traditional thinking by adopting some contemporary behavioural insights to today's rent management. Some of these techniques are out with the normal thinking of social housing - but they have been proven to work.
The course focuses on getting the money in - not more tenants out. Truly a Rent Ethic.
A fascinating course that Barry Marlow steers through whether you are on the property side or people side of things. There will be something for everyone, including opportunities to examine your own approach as part of the conversation, whether this is part of a service review or something bigger and more strategic. Here’s a taster:
• Battle the speed v quality dilemma
• Engage the Customer
• Explore the silo mentality
• Selectively forget the past
• Streamline the offer
• Challenge the legacy processes that slow you down
• Minimise the risks of tenancy failure
• Get rid of what clearly doesn’t work, such as….
• Mind your language and change your attitude!
• Find out what works elsewhere
The ideal course for anyone new to the social housing business, or as a refresher for staff moving around the service.
It will also be an essential part of induction as staff get a feel of the bigger picture and the context of the social housing world. Recently the course was delivered in-house and one officer attended after being with the organisation for five years. “Learned a lot”.
Barry Marlow delivers a highly entertaining and informative day that includes the key historical moments, the funding, the politics, the ways today's social housing issues are framed from the past and a good look at topical events. There is a quiz (with prizes) during the day that helps to keep everyone on their toes and deeply interested in the content.
Barry makes sure the course is enjoyable and relevant. People attending can be from any part of the business – it is all interesting enough for them to keep connected. There will be lots of questions arising, so if you are booking on behalf of your team members, brace yourself for when they return…
Now here is a challenging course – one that delivers the customer service experience and context within social housing – amongst some of the biggest changes ever seen.
Even the term ‘customer’ is being challenged. Barry Marlow uses this challenge and his immense experience to steer through a highly informative course that covers some of the best customer service messages in the business. Anyone attending will be both inspired and fascinated about how to deliver what has been learned. There will be at least 10 great ideas, all potentially capable of having an immediate impact in the way services are delivered.
Barry delivers these messages and ideas because throughout the years, they have been tried – and they work. Customers have been engaged at the same time as value for money has been introduced. So if you are looking at reframing the customer offer, reviewing services with the customer in mind, trying to do something about complaints and feedback or looking to re-engage staff after a period of change, then this course will be the one to pick up the motivation to truly make a difference.
Trying to persuade somebody or some people to change? Perhaps it’s a behaviour thing or even based in some kind of conflict?
This course focuses on some of the most acute social housing issues, such as debt management, financial inclusion and debt recovery. There are some obvious issues here that are deeply personal – but staff will be conscious that they need to perform, to collect debts and to manage an often-difficult relationship.
So, are your staff debt counsellors? What does this even mean? Is there a dilemma?
This course is a must for anyone involved in financial inclusion, money recovery, debt advice, enforcement and debt counselling. This might involve rent, former tenants, re-chargeables and sundries.
It’s all in the mix as Barry Marlow uses a framework of law and regulation amongst other types of approach that are removed from enforcement – but gets the attention of the debtor. Yes, it’s all legal and above board and it retains the social purpose of the organisation. Fascinated?
See you on the course then…
The Property Factors (Scotland) Act, 2011 changed a lot of things about the management of multi tenure properties. And the Charter sets out how important the standards affecting factoring should be applied and measured.
This course looks at the history of Factoring from the 1700s to the present day. and then comes right up to date by examining the current legal situation and also looks at the work of the 1st Tier Tribunal. In addition, the course will look at previous decisions of the Tribunal and see how to avoid that situation.
Delivered by Eileen McCallum, one of Scotland’s most proficient trainers, this is a must for any housing organisation looking to review its Factoring practices and maintain its performance standards.
Don’t know your circuits from your sockets or your roof from your render?
This is the course for you. Eileen McCallum, who has delivered this course now for several years, remains the source of knowledge when it comes to making sure that generic housing staff get a grip on the essentials of property maintenance.
Firstly, there’s a look at the reasons that repairs occur (always a good start), and then the reasons why landlords actually do them. There will be a check on the lease and see what it says and look at the legal background.
Then there’s a good look at all of the components of a house, inside and out, see which ones are most likely to break down and what to do when that happens.
An ideal introduction into the workings of repairs – still number one in the housing complaints lists. It would be very good to be in a position to prevent any dissatisfaction – and improve your expertise at the same time.
Lone working? Anti-social behaviour? We all have to come across situations where the relationship with colleagues or customers isn’t easy. Perhaps you could be empower?
A specialist in managing fear and conflict, Mark Wingfield’s dynamic delivery empower individuals to effectively handle difficult conversations and challenging situations successfully.
By the end of a course you will leave with practical and immediately-applicable skills to be able to stay safe, remain professional and manage your mental health and stress levels.
Mark has delivered this course both within and outside the housing world, to brilliant feedback. It doesn’t matter what your job, or where you work in the organisation. You won’t leave disappointed.
The world of social media can appear baffling. It need not be.
Tony Smith has created a successful Social Housing ICT blog, with over 30,000 readers each month, and has 17k followers each month on Twitter at @HousingITguy. It has been reported, that he has a bigger footprint in #UKHousing than the CIH and Inside Housing magazine.
In this training course, Tony will reveal how to navigate/engage social media, spread some good advice, while building the social media footprint that fits you, at zero cost and just some regular effort.
After this day, you will feel more confident posting and engaging online within your business and in real-life with social friends and followers.
A unique day for people with engagement agendas, housing communication and information sharing that gets the messages across – socially and positively.
Improving your photo images that can be used to record events, better promote empty properties, and highlight staff events can make a big difference on all sorts of levels. It’s not difficult, just using the smartphone in your pocket and some very cheap apps.
Once he talks you through the tech needed, Tony Smith will teach you some composition tips and ways to drastically improve your images, for a professional feel.
Tony has worked in Social Housing ICT for 22 years and also with his local community library as publicity officer. The latter, closed as a consequence of cuts in 2011, has been a success now for six years, often assisted by his promotion of events.
After this course you will feel more confident composing images and using them to greater effect in the promotion of the housing service.
Every pictures tells a story…as someone once might have said.
Ever wondered how to provide really good self-service for your residents and tenants and know how to help them make the best of it?
How can we help our residents online to enhance their own experiences and make some savings too?
How can we provide help for our older customers to get on-line, as well as preserving a range of effective channels, so customers still can exercise a choice?
How are organisations rewarding residents who choose self-service?
Tony Smith has worked with many landlords, who have been successful with self-service and seen massive take up of digital services, increasing satisfaction while reducing costs too.
From years of experience, Tony has scores of practical takeaway’s that can enhance you and your resident experiences.
A really brilliant opportunity to share a day with one of the UK’s leading IT consultants, with plenty of examples of what works.
The law and your responsibilities Why diversity is important and your ways of working An understanding and appreciation of unconscious bias How to deliver excellent customer service equally to a diverse resident base.
Mushtaq Khan Essential ingredients to any strategic or operational service review. Mushtaq is a highly experienced and respected trainer and consultant able and willing to share his expertise with board members, senior executive staff and managers responsible for applying E, D and I policies. Tenant board members would find this course essential.
If you’re new to Housing or have moved from one discipline to another, or just in need of an update or refresher then this is the course for you.
The following topics will be covered:
• History of Housing
• Scottish Social Tenancy agreement
• Types of tenure
• Allocations
• Rents and benefits
• Repairs
• Estate Management
• Anti-social behaviour
• Homelessness
• Factoring
And there will be plenty of time for questions!
It’s also suitable for all levels of staff, from junior staff just getting started, to more senior staff who have worked for a long time in one particular area.
The course is delivered by Eileen McCallum who has worked in Housing for 40 years. She has delivered training all over the UK, from Shetland to Brighton, and is appreciated for her down to earth, motivational approach.
Software can be very expensive and it’s hard at times to know how to buy the solutions, have them implemented well and get the most from them.
Tony Smith has implemented more than 20 full integrated solutions in the sector and worked with over 70 landlords to improve their processes & systems. His mission is to help all landlords, get the most from their ICT.
After this masterclass, you will have a better idea of what to ask suppliers, how to tackle contracts to get what you need, protect your organisation from delays and increased costs. Also, what to do if your current system and processes are not working properly for your organisation.
Key takeaways will better equip you and your organisation, to get the most from your systems.
We know there are problems with the demand on homelessness. There are problems with the number of evictions from rented housing. There is a huge impact on Housing Options and Homelessness teams.
The content involves examining behaviours – both your own and how your customers behave to the impact of your actions. Why people make the decisions and choices that they do. How language and framing can influence what people do next. Or not do. How intentions and promises are vastly different from actions taken
This ‘actionable insight’ has been delivered by Anna O’Halloran and Barry Marlow very successfully in-house. Now it’s your turn.
Here is your opportunity to take a different look at familiar problems using Actionable Insight; not only how to obtain it, but what to do with it.
Another unique training experience with one of the UK’s best-known trainers in behavioural thinking and insight – Anna O’Halloran.
Anna calls these ‘unfamiliar tactics for familiar issues’ and you will see why when you come along to this highly enjoyable and interactive day.
We know that there are challenges caused through change, customer satisfaction/expectation and measurable performance.
Here is a day that moves your thinking from involvement to insight.
You won’t regret it.