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East Ayrshire Private Landlords Forum & Previous forums

Dates for Forums have been set for 2009;

Wednesday 25th February 2009
Wednesday 27th May 2009
Wednesday 26th August 2009
Wednesday 25th November 2009

Meetings are held every 3 months and have been ongoing for over 4 years. The forum offers landlords the opportunity to share ideas and to find out about current/future policies and procedures and good practice in private renting. This page gives you details of previous forums.

Date of Next Meeting

The next forum will be held on Wednesday 25th February 2009, 6.45pm-9pm at The Park Hotel, Kilmarnock.

Landlords Forum 19th November 2008

The last forum was held on 19th November 2008 at the Park Hotel and was attended well with approximately 40 landlords in attendance. The evening included 2 presentations as well as a landlord discussion around LHA. The first of the presentations was from Chris McKimb and Lesley Scott from East Ayrshire Council Cleansing Services and provided detailed information on the cleansing service and recycling processes . The second of the presentations was delivered by Ruth Sutherland from the Energy Saving Scotland Advice Centre and gave general advice on energy saving and how the Advice Centre can assist with this.

Landlords Forum 20th August 2008

The forum was held on 20th August 2008 at the Park Hotel and was once again well attended with over 50 landlords in attendance. The first of 2 presentations was by David Johnstone, Community Safety Manager, East Ayrshire Council who provided landlords with general information on the Antisocial Behaviour Team and how they could assist. The second of the presentations was by Neil Freshwater, Public Policy Executive, Royal Chartered Institute of Surveyors who provided a detailed presentation on Energy Performance Certificates (EPC's). EPC's are due to be introduced in January 2009 and will determine how energy efficient a property is by grading after a survey has been carried out, it will provide recommendations for improvement in energy efficiency. The certificate will last for a 10 year period.

Landlords Forum 21st May 2008

The last forum was held on 21st May 2008 at the Park Hotel and was once again well attended with over 50 landlords in attendance. The night included 2 presentations as well as information stalls for landlords to look around. The first of the presentations was by Jim Lochrie, Accountant and covered current tax issues for private landlords. The second presentation was by Archie Mitchell, Health & Safety Executive on the importance of gas safety for private landlords.

Landlords Forum 20th February 2008

The forum was held on 20th February at the Park Hotel, Kilmarnock and was very well attended with approximately 70 landlords being in attendance. The first of two presentations was by Karen Ironside, Revenues & Benefits Manager, who provided further information on the new Local Housing Allowance (110 Kb) which will be introduced from the 7th April 2008. Members of the audience were then given the opportunity to ask questions.The second presentation was by Jim Lochrie, Accountant and covered Inheritance Tax and Capital Gains Tax (161 Kb).

November 2007

The last forum was held on 21st November 2007 at the Park Hotel in Kilmarnock. The event was well attended with approximately 40 landlords. The evening consisted of presentations on Sources of Law, Assured Tenancies, Other Landlord / Tenant Issues, Repossession Proceedings and The Repairing Standards (279 Kb) all of which were carried out by the guest speaker Anne Gilmour of Shelter Scotland.

August 2007

The forum was held on 29th August at The Park Hotel, Kilmarnock. The event was very well attended with over 40 landlords. The evening consisted of a presentation from David Rudden and Karen Ironside, from Housing Benefit, who provided the group with some useful information on the forthcoming Local Housing Allowance (53 Kb).

Charlie Murphy of East Ayrshire Care and Repair Scheme then provided landlords with an overview of the Care and Repair Scheme, and how it could be utilised by private tenants.

The final presentation of the evening was from Robert Stewart of Strathclyde Police who gave landlords some tips on how to recognise if their property was being used for illegal drug purposes (9,974 Kb).

May 2007

Held on the 23rd of May at The Park Hotel in Kilmarnock. The event was very well attended with over 30 landlords. The evening consisted of a presentation from John Blackwood (159 Kb) of the Scottish Association of Landlords on the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 and the implication of this for private landlords. Lisa Mullen, Registration Officer, East Ayrshire Council gave a presentation (173 Kb) and provided landlords with an update on the progress of the scheme.

February 2007

This Forum was predominantly an information session for local landlords. Louise Collatin, Private Sector Liaison Officer, East Ayrshire Council gave a presentation on the services provided by the Private Sector Housing Unit, (127 Kb) for tenants and landlords. Joe Cassidy, Development and Strategy Manager, East Ayrshire Council, gave an update on Registration and the progress of the scheme in East Ayrshire. A number of information stalls were available on the evening for landlords, including information on insurance, tenancy support and fire safety.

November 2006

The November Forum was very well attended with over 40 landlords. The evening consisted of a presentation from Joe Cassidy, Development and Strategy Manager, East Ayrshire Council. Joe's presentation provided landlords with information on the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 (1,047 Kb) and the impact that this might have upon them.

Jennifer Wearing, Community Mediator, SACRO Community Mediation Services also gave a very informative presentation (383 Kb) on the evening. Jennifer provided landlords with information on the service that SACRO can provide. The Mediation Service offers assistance to tenants and all tenures to resolve disputes that they have with neighbours.

August 2006

The August Forum was very well attended with over 40 landlords. The evening consisted of a presentation from Colin Urie, Freedom of Information Officer, East Ayrshire Council. Colin was invited along following May's Forum, when a number of questions were raised in relation to The Freedom of Information Act (FOI). Colin's presentation (74 Kb) covered the impact of FOI on The National Registration Scheme for Landlords.

May 2006

The event in May 2006 was very well attended with over 40 landlords. The evening consisted of a presentation from John Pilkington – East Ayrshire Council Antisocial Behaviour Strategy and Development Manager. Johns presentation (68 Kb) raised a number of questions in relation to Data Protection and Freedom of Information. We hope to clarify some of these points at our next forum in August when we will invite a member of our legal team to come along.

Robert Hall, Chairperson of the South Ayrshire Landlords Association (SALA), gave a presentation on the benefits of being a member of a local landlord association. All those in attendance agreed that they would be happy to receive further information on the development of an association in East Ayrshire.

February 2006

Held on the 22nd of February 2006; the event was exceptionally well attended with over 80 landlords. There were a number of new faces on the evening, which we hope continues. Presentations on the evening were from Louise Collatin on Landlord Registration and Karen McLean on Housing Benefit Overpayments (27Kb)

November 2005

On 30th November, John Blackwood hosted a 3 hour workshop for landlords in East Ayrshire. The workshop covered all aspects of developing and managing tenancy agreements. For further information on preparing tenancy agreements please contact the Private Sector Unit.

On 23rd November, John Blackwood, the Director of the Scottish Association of Landlords gave a presentation on National Registration for Landlords, due to come into effect in March 2006. Further information on Registration.

August 2005

This event was a joint forum with South Ayrshire Council and was attended by over 55 landlords. Presentations on the evening were from Roger Harris from the Scottish Executive who provided information on National Registration for Landlords (63.2Kb).

The second speaker was Jennifer Freeguard from the DWP who gave a presentation on Local Housing Allowance (33.8Kb) currently being piloted in two Scottish Local Authorities.

May 2005

Held at The Park Hotel, Kilmarnock on the 18th of May 2005; the event was well attended, and feedback was once again very positive.

Douglas Wheeler of Douglas Wheeler Associates gave a presentation on The Town Centre Living Initiative (81.7Kb). Douglas is currently researching options around bringing vacant town centre properties, above shops back into residential use.

John Blackwood the Director of the Scottish Association of Landlords (SAL) gave a presentation on Local Housing Allowance (LHA), currently being piloted in Edinburgh and Argyll and Bute Council. Following the presentation, landlords attended two workshops - one with John and the other with Alison Tennant of Littlejohn Estate Agents in Edinburgh.

The workshops were very interesting and raised a number of questions and concerns in relation to LHA. Some points raised were:

The system will be open to abuse
Tenant may fail to pay landlord
Tenants often default on small 'top-up' payments
Landlord could lose one months rent
Easier not to take tenants on housing benefit

Most landlords don't know about LHA yet some possible solutions offered were:

More communication between HB and landlord
Would be useful to have 1 named individual in HB to speak to
Give a warning to tenants who persistently default on their payments
If tenant chooses to pay direct to the landlord then this should be their right
Don't take tenants on HB
Once the cheque is sent to the tenant the landlord could be notified

Further information on Local Housing Allowance can be found at the Department of Works and Pensions website .

November 2004

Anti social Behaviour Strategy (28.4 Kb) - An update from the Anti -Social Behaviour Strategy Officer on reporting antisocial behaviour in the private sector.

Capital Gains Tax - Jim Lochrie spoke about tax issues for landlords including Inheritance and Capital Gains Tax.

Notes from Shelter Seminar (33.9 Kb) - Jim Maconochie spoke about the proposed National Registration for Private Sector Landlords.

Rent Registration Work Shop - February 2005

East Ayrshire Council facilitated a workshop for landlords on the Rent Registration Service (RRS). Bill MacDougall, Senior Rent Officer, from the Glasgow branch of the service gave a presentation to the group at an afternoon event in Kilmarnock.

The most important aspect of Bill's talk for landlords was the need for all landlords to contact the RRS and provide them with as much information about properties as possible.

View Bills presentation (19Kb)

August 2004

Local Housing Allowance Scheme - Edinburgh City Council (20.9Kb)

Question and Answers - Local Housing Allowance Scheme (18.8Kb)

Question and Answers - Rent Deposit Guarantee Scheme (17.3Kb)

May 2004

East Ayrshire Council Deposit Guarantee Scheme (180 Kb)

Managing Antisocial Behaviour (67.5 Kb)

Health and Safety for Private Sector Landlords (89.4 Kb)

January 2004

Tenancy Agreements (93.0 Kb)

Tenancy Agreements - Questions and Answers (12.6 Kb)