Tackling damp & mould was among the subjects discussed at a recent event for local landlords organised in Southport by Sefton Council on Thursday 3^rd October.

Clare Taylor from the Council’s Housing Standards Team told the 30 or so landlords who attended the event in Southport that Sefton is one of 40 local Authorities picked to take part in the Governments Healthy Homes Project. Healthy Homes is an initiative to test different approaches to improving damp and mould enforcement in private rented homes.

As well as explaining the project, Clare reminded the landlords at the event that free training on Damp Mould and Condensation is available from the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) Details of the course can be found at www.nrla.org.uk/training-academy/local-authority/sefton-council-condensation-mould-and-dampness

Landlords can carry out the training online or at an in-person session at Bootle Town Hall from 9.30am to 1.30pm on Friday 15th November.

Guest speaker Steven Bletsoe from the NRLA talked about the Government’s Renters Rights Bill and how it will affect landlords. He also discussed training opportunities for landlords on the proposed new legislation.

Jake Percival from ‘Pure Leapfrog’, talked about their Government-funded scheme to help landlords to make their homes more energy efficient through retrofitting. And Mike Balshaw from Sefton Council’s Housing Benefits team gave an update presentation.

At the end of last week’s event, one landlord said:
“I would like to thank the Sefton team and guests for a very helpful, interesting and informative event at Southport last night. It gave me and others I chatted to a lot of food-for-thought.”

Cllr Daren Veidman, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing and Highways said:
“We had a good turnout at our recent Landlords Forum in Southport and I was pleased to hear the positive feedback.

“Sefton Council is keen to work with landlords to help them ensure they meet the current regulations that are in place for their tenants and last week’s event was just one example of how we do this.”

Sefton landlords can find more useful information at www.sefton.gov.uk/landlords and any wanting to find out about future events and training available should contact the Council’s Housing Team at private.housing(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)sefton.gov.uk.