Listen up landlords: Housing Afghan refugees and help with hoarding

No-one can fail to have been moved by the sight of tens of thousands of Afghan people flocking to Kabul Airport following the fall of the city to the Taliban in August and this month the NRLA podcast looks at what private landlotrds can do to help.

The UK Government is funding a scheme to welcome and house up to 20,000 refugees from Afghanistan with 5,000 expected in the first year and presenter Richard Blanco welcomes to Dr Krish Kandiah to the show to talk about their plight.

Dr Kandiah is Director of charity coalition Afghan Welcome, a coalition of charities and civil society groups working together with the UK Home Office to offer Afghan refugees the support they need to start a new life in the UK.

Krish and Richard are joined by Wimbledon landlord Jo Sherring who houses a refugee family from Syria and is about to house an Afghan family in need of a home.

Jo, who has worked with refugee charities since 2015 and helps coordinate Epsom & Ewell Refugee Network is also lead sponsor for a community sponsorship group and has had an overwhelmingly positive experience in housing refugees and providing community support.

She talks about her experiences and what you can do if you want to help.

Elsewhere in the show Dan Cumming of the NRLA advice team talks about the hot topics on the phonelines throughout the month, including a question about property inspections. 

And, with a new NRLA course on hoarding being launched later this month we take a look at the complex issue of haording disorders. 

It is estimated that hoarding is an issue for around 6% of people – and with 4.5million people living in the PRS there is a chance you could, at some point, have a tenant who is affected. 

We talk to hoarding expert Jo Cooke of Hoarding Disorders UK about signs to look for and advice on how to approach the issue while supporting your tenant. 

She is joined by expert trainer Jack Moore who will be delivering a new NRLA course on hoarding who will also discuss way to approach the issue and the options open to you. 

As ever, if you enjoy the show, please spread the word on your social media channels using the hashtag #listenuplandlords.  

And remember, you can now pick up a CPD point to be used towards NRLA accreditation by listening to the podcast.

To log your point, visit the accreditation dashboard in the ‘Your Account’ section of the NRLA website. Select ‘Other’ then ‘NRLA Podcast’ from the dropdown menu. 

More information 

To listen and to read a full transcript of the show click here.  

To watch a pre-recorded webinar outlining how landlords can get involved in the scheme to rehouse Afghan refugees click here. 

For more information regarding the new NRLA hoarding course click here.