In House courses

Our tailored in-house courses are designed for you and your team, we can develop a course suited to your needs, pilot it and roll it out within your business.

All our courses can be delivered directly to your team via online training platforms by experts in the industry.

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Please note this course is only open to students who work in England due to it being focused on English law and regulation.

On achievement of this qualification you will:

- Provide housing staff working at, or aspiring to, a supervisory or management level with a qualification to suit their needs.
- Develop skills and knowledge for the current challenges in housing and responsive repairs.
- Explore areas of housing policy and law. Prepare learners for further study in housing-related qualifications at level 5 / undergraduate level.

CIH Level 4 Certificate in Managing Housing Maintenance

Please note this course is only open to students who work in England due to it being focused on English law and regulation.

The Certiﬁcate has a modular structure consisting of four units comprising training session, tutorials and feedback. Each unit has its own assignment set at the end.

On achievement of this qualification you will:

- Understand the housing maintenance/asset management role and how this fits into the wider context of housing
- Introduce some of the knowledge necessary to participate in housing maintenance/asset management related activities.

CIH Level 3 Certificate in Housing Maintenance & Asset Management

Damp in housing association properties can be very costly to put right, as well as being detrimental to the health of occupants. It is often caused by condensation, which itself is avoidable if the right steps are taken.

Upkeep Training’s online ‘Damp, condensation & mould’ one-day course teaches housing staff how to recognise factors that can lead to condensation and how to take and take preemptive steps to stop the situation developing into a serious damp problem.

Damp, condensation & mould

How much knowledge do you and colleagues in your organisation have about the basics of building construction.

A dwelling that has fallen into a poor state of repair due to landlord inaction can breach the Decent Homes Standard, which social housing providers in England must adhere to. Disrepair is detrimental to the health and wellbeing of tenants, can lead to stress, annoyance and aggravation, and be costly to rectify.

Upkeep Training’s ‘Basic Building Construction’ online one-day course teaches staff working for housing companies how buildings are constructed, how to spot common problems in the wall and roof structure and how to raise orders for necessary repairs.

Basic Building Construction

All local authority and social landlords need to ensure that their tenants live and benefit from a safe, well-maintained area where they feel happy to live.

What is a tenants neighbourhood and how far do the landlords’ responsibilities go?

Ensuring sound communal areas and grounds can have a positive impact on how people feel about living there. Whether it’s fly tipping, graffiti or overgrown gardens, rundown estates can lead to other problems such as difficult to let properties which affect rent levels.

Estate Management

Upon completing this course you will:

- Understand what's necessary for you to do: what's new, what the law requires, what it covers and what it doesn't.
- How to minimise risk.
- Consider what defences may be available to you.
- How you should communicate with tenants, managers, surveyors and contractors effectively and with confidence.

Housing, fitness, disrepair and the law

The Housing Health & Safety Rating System (HHSRS) is a Government published risk based evaluation tool. It is designed to assist housing associations and local authorities in identifying potential health and safety hazards from deficiencies in their residential properties, as well as offering protection against them.

All social landlords are expected to adhere to the HHSRS when carrying out inspections their housing stock. As such it is fundamentally important that their staff are familiar with the HHSRS and are up to date with their knowledge of it.

The HHSRS qualification that Upkeep offer is accredited by ABBE (Award Body of the Built Environment). The course takes place over two days and at the end of it you will have a qualification that is recognised nationally. This confirms that you have demonstrated that you are competent in carrying out the assessment of housing stock using the HHSRS.

Housing Health & Safety Rating Systems - ABBE accredited

Housing and property sector staff need to have adequate knowledge of the basic components of household electrical and heating installations. Even experienced staff need to to keep refreshed with knowledge of the latest safety features, controls and components. Our one-day online course is the ideal introduction to domestic electrical and heating systems.

On this online course you will learn how to establish what the main components are of domestic electrical installations. Attendees will learn how to recognise simple electrical problems, conduct basic safety checks and identify the main types of domestic heating systems and the parts that make them work.

Domestic Electrical and Heating Installations course 1

This one-day course provides procurement staff, those with procurement responsibilities across the organisation or those staff wishing to gain more in depth contract law guidance with the essential knowledge and skills to understand the legal considerations when entering into a commercial relationship.

Essentials of Contract Law

This is an online course taken in three sessions over an eight day period, with some activities to carry out in between. Each of the sessions lasts for two hours.

The first of the three sessions is an introduction to the law concerning leasehold compared to rented when it comes to repairs. Session two looks at who is responsible for repairs, maintenance and improvements and how they can be paid for. The third and final session covers Section 20 consultation, when landlords give leaseholders notice of carrying out work, estimates of costs and awarding of contracts.

By the end of the course you will have a full understanding of the responsibilities regarding repairs for leasehold properties, as well as the process involved from deciding to carry out works to sending out a bill.

Leaseholders: An introduction to the law, the lease and repairs

New health and safety measures will have a major impact on every housing organisation's construction and building maintenance projects.

Under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM 2015) housing associations will need to ensure the contractor they've appointed to carry out such work has taken the necessary measures to protect worker safety. Appoint the wrong construction or maintenance firm and responsibility may fall on your housing association.

This course will ensure management and housing staff have the right skills and training to ensure your organisation won't fall foul of the regulations and risk legal action. It gives a comprehensive overview of the CDM regulations and helps prepare the housing workforce for the challenges ahead.

CDM Regulations – Principles and Practice

Does your job role involve looking after buildings? Perhaps you work for a social landlord, letting agency, or maybe you work in a property or facilities management company?

Most housing associations manage a stock portfolio that is ageing with properties being between forty and one hundred years old. With this comes rising repairs and maintenance costs.

Staff working for housing and property management companies need particular skills and abilities to handle requests for repairs. They include strong diagnostic and questioning techniques, knowing how to prioritise repairs and write detailed specific orders is also valuable.

Upkeep Training’s online Repairs Reporting Skills teaches these skills. The benefit for your organisation is greater efficiency in time and cost as the right orders are raised at the point of reporting.

Repairs Reporting Skills

Maintaining the system of pipes, tanks, fittings, and other equipment that is needed for a property’s water supply, heating and sanitary systems is a key component of good housing management. It is also important to have an adequate knowledge of The need to understand how water, drains and sewerage systems operate.

Upkeep Training’s 'Plumbing, Wastes and Drains' online one-day course familiarises staff working in the housing and property sector with the working of these systems. How to recognise defects and plumbing problems and determine what repairs are necessary.

Plumbing wastes & drains

Surveyors and maintenance staff in housing deal with a range of complex repairs challenges every day.

Giving housing staff an understanding of housing law can benefit housing associations and local authority departments in several ways including helping prevent possible legal action by residents.

This one-day housing law and repairs course provides an overview of housing law from a maintenance and repairs perspective.

It is designed to provide clarity on the roles and responsibilities of landlords and residents and teaches the legal framework, key legislation and case law. This programme helps candidates develop confidence through knowledge.