Wigan Council is giving private landlords in our borough a new platform to air their views, share information and gain support.
The Council’s Housing Strategy team recently launched the new Private Landlord Forum at St Peter’s Pavillion in Hindley.
More than 60 private landlords and letting agents operating in the borough attended the event, which looked at how Wigan Council could continue to build on its relationship with private landlords to improve standards, recognise the work of good landlords and offer support and advice to those who need it.
Landlords could get advice on issues such as fire safety, housing benefits, energy efficiency and much more.
Feedback from the event was extremely positive and officers were delighted at both the turn out and the opportunity to network with landlords and letting agents. Those who attended were given the chance to suggest future topics of interest that they would like to hear about at upcoming forum events. One landlord said: “This was a well organised and very informative event – well worthwhile attending!”
Wigan Council’s Cabinet Champion for Neighbourhoods, Councillor Kevin Anderson said “It’s wonderful that so many landlords and letting agents operating in the borough gave up their evening to attend this event. Wigan Council is committed to working with private landlords and improving the image of the sector. The positive attitude of those attending just shows the commitment of these landlords and by working together, we are sure we can improve the sector as a whole for both landlords and tenants.”
The council’s Housing Strategy team runs Wigan Accredited Landlords Scheme to encourage, acknowledge, raise awareness and promote good standards and management practice by landlords. It also helps landlords and tenants to undertake their responsibilities to each other. Accredited landlords can access many benefits such as free advertising, discounted credit checks and insurance.
They can also find out more about the private sector leasing scheme, where the council will lease a property for three years, guaranteeing the landlords income and management is provided by Wigan Housing Solutions.
