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Tenancy sustainment conference

This one-day Shelter conference, held in Edinburgh on 31 January 2008, explored a number of measures and services that help tenants to stay in their accommodation. It provided an opportunity for delegates to hear about new services and share good practice.

Morning plenary session

James Jopling, Head of External Relations at Shelter Scotland, chaired the event and the morning plenary session gave an overview of the current situation regarding tenancy sustainment in Scotland and some of the key issues to be addressed. Matt Elton, Head of the Youth Unit, Scottish Council for Single Homeless, gave the first presentation, focusing on the social, individual and human costs of homelessness.

Matt was followed by Hal Pawson, Professorial Fellow of the School of the Built Environment at Heriot-Watt University. Hal outlined a range of approaches to tenancy sustainment based on his extensive research experience in this area.

You can download their presentations here:

The costs of homelessness
Matt Elton, Head of Youth Unit, Scottish Council for Single Homeless

Approaches to promoting tenancy sustainment
Hal Pawson, Professional Fellow, School of the Built Environment, Heriot-Watt University.

Morning workshop sessions

Delegates were given a choice of four workshops as follows:

Mortgage to Rent
Mike Crozier, Weslo Housing Management - Mortgage to Rent - WESLO's experience
Keith McDowell, Communities Scotland - Mortgage to Rent scheme

Homelessness and employability in Scotland
Geraldine Wooley, SHEN

Social networks
Claire Frew, Glasgow Homelessness Network

Maximising income to prevent eviction
Clare Maher, Scottish Borders Council

Afternoon plenary session

The focus of the afternoon presentations was to look at tenancy sustainment strategy and implementation. Roz Plant, Single Homeless Persons Support Worker at Shelter Scotland, gave an outline of how Shelter helps people sustain their tenancies.

Suzie Scott, Policy & Service Development Manager, Glasgow Housing Association, explained the approach the Association has taken to developing a new tenancy sustainment strategy with the aim of helping tenants to stay in their accommodation for longer.

Yvette Burgess, Director, Supporting People Enabling Unit, looked at the changes to Supporting People funding and how this is likely to affect tenancy sustainment services in future.

You can download their presentations here:

Developing a tenancy sustainment strategy
Suzie Scott, Policy & Service Development Manager

Supporting People presentation
Yvette Burgess, Director, Supporting People Enabling Unit

Please note that Roz Plant did not use presentation slides.