This one-day Shelter conference, held in Perth on 24 June 2009, looked at the outcomes from the Government’s recent review and future developments for the private rented sector.

Morning plenary session 1 – The Private Rented Sector Review

Liz Shiel, Committee Member, Shelter Scotland chaired the event and the first plenary session outlined the findings of the Scottish Government’s Private Rented Sector Review and whether the key aims for the sector are being achieved. Rachel Gwyon, Head of Housing Markets and Supply, the Scottish Government, gave the first presentation, and outlined the main aims and findings of the review.

Rachel was followed by Gavin Corbett, Head of Policy, Shelter Scotland, who gave Shelter Scotland’s perspective on the outcomes of the review and the main challenges facing the private rented sector. A different perspective on the same theme was then given by John Blackwood, Director, Scottish Association of Landlords.

You can download their presentations here:

The Private Rented Sector Review in detail
Rachel Gwyon, The Scottish Government

Shelter's view
Gavin Corbett, Shelter Scotland

There are no slides for this presentation, but you can download a copy of Shelter Scotland’s report Landlord Registration in Scotland: three years on.

What has been achieved thus far and what challenges lie ahead?
John Blackwood, Scottish Association of Landlords

Morning plenary session 2 – The private rented sector and vulnerable tenants

In the first part of this session Ben Dyer, Business Development Manager, Orchard & Shipman plc, outlined details of a new service ‘LetFirst’, which will help households who would not normally be able to access the Private Rented Sector, but do not have additional support needs.

Douglas White, Senior Policy Advocate, Consumer Focus Scotland, then looked at the experiences of the more vulnerable tenants in the Private Rented Sector, who potentially need on-going support to sustain tenancies and how this impacts on the sector.
 

You can download their presentations here:

Private landlords and the prevention of homelessness
Ben Dyer, Orchard & Shipman plc

Vulnerable tenants in the private rented sector
Douglas White, Consumer Focus Scotland

Afternoon plenary session – Money matters

The afternoon sessions looked at wider issues affecting the sector.  Alan Sinclair, Operations Manager (Processing), City of Edinburgh Council, talked about the Council’s experiences of implementing Local Housing Allowance. David Kendall, Regional Organiser, National Landlords Association Scotland, gave some details of the different schemes which benefit private landlords including tax incentives and energy efficiency grants.

You can download their presentations here:

Local Housing Allowance
Alan Sinclair, Operations Manager (Processing), City of Edinburgh Council

Finance initiatives and energy efficiency
David Kendall, Regional Organiser, National Landlords Association Scotland

Workshops

Delegates were given a choice of three workshops which are as follows:

Landlord accreditation
Phil Rowsby, Landlord Accreditation Scotland and Sheila Fitzpatrick, East Dunbartonshire Council

Good Practice Resource Pack for Working with Private Landlords
Lucy Robertson, Craigforth

Landlord registration three years on
Ewan Ritchie, East Lothian Council