As a result, SHN has appointed Leza Lafferty as learning/development officer and as the main contact for the new Housing Options Toolkit.

The toolkit is currently available to all local authorities and Wheatley Homes Glasgow; however, it will become available to RSLs and other stakeholders in the future. It consists of six modules covering a range of different areas of housing options practice, including:

• Introduction to Housing Options
• Accessing Housing
• Keeping people in their current homes
• Health & well-being
• Income & affordability
• Supporting employability.

Within the six modules, there are a number of learning paths and online resources. The first three learning paths are now live. After completion of the toolkit staff can continue to access it as a resource library or to contribute to the blogs and online forums.

Leza Lafferty, learning/development officer at SHN, said: “The toolkit is a great learning platform and resource to enable staff dealing with allocations and tenant sustainability to learn and share good practice. It is a valuable resource that can be referred to continuously and I look forward to supporting staff who are using the toolkit. I also hope to set up some face-to-face classroom sessions throughout Scotland; as I think these would be beneficial, especially for new staff.”

Andrea Finkel-Gates, chief executive officer at SHN, said: “We are delighted that Leza has joined SHN in this exciting new role. We are excited to be able to partner with the Housing Options Steering Committee, and Housing Options Hubs, to manage the Housing Options Training Toolkit on their behalf. It is an excellent resource for anyone providing Housing Options advice, or working in supporting roles.”