MORE than 30 of Scotland’s young housing professionals have taken part in a summit designed to address some of the sector’s biggest challenges.
The hope is that bringing together top young talent from across the country will prepare the next crop of housing leaders, and also safeguard the future of the industry.
As the brainchild of Share, a charity dedicated to learning and development across the property profession, the fledgling Young Housing Professionals’ network has notched up an important success.
The future leaders took part in a forum in Glasgow to identify the biggest hurdles facing them – including how to attract and retain talented people, dealing with the cost-of-living crisis, and how to upgrade existing housing stock despite financial constraints.
Daryl McIntosh, chief executive director of Share, told how the Network was formed last year, just months before the Scottish Government declared a housing emergency.
Speaking about the Glasgow summit, he said, “This demonstrated the value of bringing together fresh perspectives to tackle our industry’s most pressing challenges. By creating a space for emerging talent to connect and collaborate, we’re not just addressing current issues, we’re nurturing the leaders who will shape the future of housing.”
The day-long event, hosted by Nicola Dillon, an Investors in People practitioner and young people development consultant, was also supported by Elderpark Housing Association and was held at its HQ on Golspie Street in Glasgow.
Elderpark provided the venue free of charge and offered network members the chance to connect, share ideas, enhance skills, and advance their careers in the housing sector.
Nicola Dillon added, “Our Young Housing Professionals’ network around sector challenges was a great success. The creative minds of our younger generations never cease to inspire me. The event left the network with an appetite for more opportunities to come together and share and learn best practices around sector challenges.”
While the network meets quarterly, members are also supported through an online forum, where they can share queries and ideas, collaborate and build relationships.
As a registered charity, Share invests all profits back into the services it provides, and has three key values, to be supportive, passionate and excellent in all that it does.
It also wants to build on its core function of serving housing associations, by broadening into the private rental sector, to help it prepare for increasing legal requirements and to improve services.
To learn more about Share and The Young Housing Professionals’ network, visit: https://www.share.org.uk/networks/the-young-housing-professionals-network
