NEW eLEARNING COURSES: Repairs and social housing and Mental health and housing
Repairs and social housing eLearning
Lemos&Crane has developed this course in response to demand from existing customers of our eLearning, which provides essential knowledge on law and good practice for over 2,000 housing professionals.
Repairs is an essential issue for staff training because most tenants will report repairs to their landlord at some time, even those tenants who have little other contact with their landlords. And providing a good repairs service is an important part of tenancy management, and crucial in maintaining tenant satisfaction.
Who is the course for?
- Housing officers and managers
- Frontline customer service staff
- Specialist ASB and rent teams that also need to have thorough knowledge of mainstream, down-the-line housing management issues such as repairs
- Any other staff who have regular contact with and provide services for tenants
What does it cover?
- Landlord and tenant rights and duties – covers the contractual liability for repairs defined by the tenancy agreement and in section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. It also has subjects on disrepair and remedies, damp, procedural requirements for undertaking repairs, and covers what other statutory liabilities landlords have, for example under the Defective Premises Act.
- Public health duties – covers the landlord’s obligations to the public at large including housing health and safety, ‘hazards’ and the decent homes standard, statutory nuisance (where residential premises are ‘prejudicial to health or a nuisance’), and gas and electricity safety standards and obligations.
- Regulation and complaints - covers the new regulatory framework for social housing that’s been active since April 2012 (the Home Standard), and the standards it sets for repairs work; and it also covers the role and powers of the Local Government Ombudsman and the Housing Ombudsman Service in dealing with complaints from tenants about their landlords’ repairs and maintenance services.
Contact Ellen Kythor (ellenk@lemosandcrane.co.uk or 020 8348 8263) to arrange a telephone-based guided inspection.
Mental health and housing eLearning
Lemos&Crane’s new course on Mental Health and Housing adds to our growing eLearning suite of knowledge on law and good practice.
Core housing management activities such as tackling rent arrears or anti-social behaviour that involve residents with mental health problems present significant challenges for practitioners – they are often time-consuming cases, requiring careful consideration and sensitivity towards the tenant’s situation and problems, and often the need to involve other specialist agencies. The cost of getting things wrong is extremely high – in human terms, but also financially, in fines and legal costs, as well as in terms of organisational reputation.
Housing staff who are dealing with these challenging individual cases – but also staff working on a day-to-day basis to sustain the tenancies of those who have, or may have, mental health difficulties – need a thorough foundational knowledge and awareness of mental illness issues, as well as clear understanding of their role and legal responsibilities as service providers in working with people who have mental health or learning difficulties.
Who is the course for?
- (Generalist) housing officers and managers
- (Specialist) ASB and rent teams
- Staff with responsibility for tenancy sustainment
- Supported housing staff.
What does the course cover?
Staff completing the course will understand:
- What a mental illness or disorder is
- Concept and significance of mental capacity
- How people access mental health services
- Role of housing in addressing mental health
- Duties around safeguarding, complaints, information sharing and data protection
- Who to contact and work with in crisis situations (eg, possible hospital admission)
- How care and support needs are assessed
- Dealing with risks to tenancy/licence sustainment posed by mental health problems
- Legal action for a range of options including sustaining independent living.
Contact Ellen Kythor (ellenk@lemosandcrane.co.uk or 020 8348 8263) to arrange a telephone-based guided inspection.
Comments