In a bid to improve relationships between letting agents, landlords, and tenants north of the border, fresh funding has been made available for Scottish Mediation to host a series of mediating workshops across Scotland.
Scottish Mediation has received a £14,700 funding award from SafeDeposits Scotland Trust to develop and deliver eight workshops, with a view to offering participants an opportunity to learn more about the causes of conflict and how to avoid it.
Scottish Mediation, which was established in 1990 to help improve Scotland’s PRS, seeks to promote an understanding of mediation in dealing with conflict situations, both in terms of housing and other areas.
Graham Boyack, director of Scottish Mediation, said: “Scottish Mediation is confident that the funding awarded, which will allow us to work with agents throughout Scotland, will help build positive relationships in the private rented sector.”
The three-hour workshop sessions, endorsed by the Scottish government’s Letting Agent Registration Team, will also offer advice on how best to manage and resolve conflict, with a view to avoiding costly and time-consuming disputes, tenancies ending prematurely, deposit disputes, and cases being referred to the Housing and Property Chamber of the First Tier Tribunal.
John Duff, chairman of SafeDeposits Scotland Trust, commented: “The skills participants will gain from these sessions will help to reduce conflict in the private rented sector, and help to further educate letting agents. We are hopeful that in gaining conflict resolution skills, the letting agents on this workshop will work towards a more co-operative PRS in Scotland.
“The SafeDeposits Scotland Trust is proud to have funded such a wide range of important projects that share our aims of making the PRS in Scotland fairer for all parties.”
No exact dates or locations for the workshops have been finalised yet.
