Why this matters now

• Hoarding is surging for social landlords. As access to mental health and social care shrinks, caseloads are increasing and landing at housing officers’ doors
• It’s not ‘just a housing issue’. Cases are complex—rooted in trauma, anxiety, neurodiversity, poverty and more. Without joined-up support from partners, cases stall and repeat. Your teams need clear guidance and strong, practical pathways with other services
• The risks are high—and growing. Hoarding endangers tenants, staff, neighbours and whole blocks. We’re seeing more tragic incidents where landlords are called before the coroner’s court to account for missed opportunities in high-profile cases.

Hoarding is a growing concern. With rising numbers and increasingly complex cases, staff often feel at a loss—overwhelmed, under-resourced and unable to provide the holistic support that’s needed. This event focuses on the key issues and offers practical, real-world guidance to help you respond effectively.

Too often, hoarding is seen as just a housing problem. But the reality is deeper. Recognised as a mental health disorder since 2013 and affecting up to 6% of the population, hoarding sits at the intersection of mental health, safeguarding, legal duties and tenancy management.

And the risks? They’re real. Severe hoarding can lead to devastating consequences: fire hazards, infestations, even structural collapse. In 2022, the London Fire Brigade responded to over 1,000 hoarding-related fires with tragic results: 186 injuries and 10 deaths. In Wales, hoarding is now linked to nearly a third of all fire-related deaths.

Your call to action

Move from reactive enforcement to proactive, person-centred support. Learn how to spot the signs earlier, build effective multi-agency pathways and intervene safely protecting tenants, properties and communities, and reducing your exposure to enforcement failure and coronial scrutiny.

Don’t wait for a crisis. Book your place now.

What you’ll learn

• What hoarding really is and how to identify it early
• Proven, joined-up approaches: building strong working relationships with mental health, social care, fire and safeguarding partners
• Specialist interventions that work—and what to avoid
• Legal tools: how and when to use them responsibly (and how to evidence your decisions)
• Making the case for better resourcing and stronger government support.

Who should attend

• Tenancy and neighbourhood officers
• Mental health and safeguarding leads
• Housing management teams
• Tenancy sustainment teams
• Legal and enforcement professionals.

Outcomes you can take back to your organisation

• A clear, step-by-step pathway for complex cases
• Templates for multi-agency case conferences and information-sharing
• Practical checklists to assess risk and plan safe interventions
• Confidence to act—earlier, safer, and with partners on board.

Protect tenants. Protect your teams. Reduce risk.

Secure your place today.

Megan Karnes, Chair of Trustees, Hoarding UK

Founder and Chair of HoardingUK, Megan is a recognised activist and authority on hoarding behaviour.  Established to provide a safe space for people with hoarding behaviour and those seeking to help them, HoardingUK is the only hoarding specific charity working nationally in the UK.

Jo Cooke, Director, Hoarding Disorders UK and author of the book ‘Understanding Hoarding’

Jo is a founding director of Hoarding Disorders UK, which was established nearly ten years ago. Her father had hoarding behaviours and after he died, she set up Hoarding Disorders UK.  We are a company interest company and our mission is to educate, raise awareness of hoarding as a mental health disorders, provide advice and guidance, contribute to research as well as inspire the setting up of support groups and hoarding panels.

She is also the author of the book Understanding Hoarding which is fast becoming the “go to manual” for hoarders, their families and agencies that work with people exhibiting hoarding behaviours.

She has appeared in the Guardian newspaper, Cosmopolitan and other publications. She has also appeared a number of times on BBC Radio and BBC Sounds and on BBC Breakfast and ‘Inside Out’.  Jo was selected as a finalist for the Thames Valley Venus Awards’ Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.

Jo co-facilitates three hoarding support groups in Bracknell, on the telephone and on-line. She is currently writing another book “Overcoming Chronic Disorganisation”.

Anna Bennett, Partner, Devonshires

Anna advises and represents clients on all areas of housing management and property litigation, from nuisance, subletting and bogus succession claims, through to disrepair cases and wider leasehold and boundary disputes.

Outside of litigation, Anna also regularly carries out and reviews tenancies, policies and procedure for her clients.  Anna has a particular interest in working with Housing Co-operatives and the challenges faced by those clients.  Anna is also the main point of contact for work we do for the Private Rented Sector.

Professor Nick Neave, Chair, UK Hoarding Partnership

Nick Neave is a Professor in Psychology at Northumbria University. He specialises in research centered around hoarding and collecting behaviours, and the psychological underpinnings of such behaviours. He is Director of the Hoarding Research Group (HRG) and has published over 100 scientific papers and a text book. He also chairs the UK Hoarding Partnership (UKHP)  a group of professionals, academics, and people with lived experience from around the country interested in better understanding hoarding and related behaviours. He is also co-chair of ‘Less is More’ a support group for People who Hoard in the north-east.

Heather Matuozzo, Founder, Clouds End CIC

Heather Matuozzo is the founder and director of Clouds End CIC, the first and one of the UK’s leading social enterprises dedicated to supporting people affected by hoarding behaviour. With over two decades of experience in the field, Heather has become a recognised national voice on hoarding awareness, intervention, and support.

Through Clouds End, she has pioneered practical, compassionate approaches that combine professional expertise with lived experience. Her work brings together housing providers, social services, health professionals, and community organisations to develop sustainable multi-agency solutions that respect the dignity and autonomy of individuals who hoard.

Heather endeavours to shape policy and practice around hoarding at both local and national levels;  recently she met with MP Paulette Hamilton at the Houses of Parliament to discuss the need for national hoarding guidelines.

She is regularly invited to speak at conferences, training sessions, and media events, where she shares her insight into the complex psychological, social, and environmental aspects of hoarding. Her passion lies in breaking down stigma, promoting supportive intervention, and ensuring that people who hoard are treated with empathy and understanding.

Mandi Simms, Ambassador, Hoarding UK

Mandi’s ‘Road of Recovery’ could only begin after she attended a local face to face Hoarding Support Group run by the charity Mary Francis Trust, and her ‘Road of Recognition’ could begin.

Mandi wants to help share my knowledge and experience to help others understand more and help give ‘hoarders’ a voice to be heard and listened to.

9:30am Welcome and introductions

• Megan Karnes, Founder and Chair, Hoarding UK

• Mandi Simms, Ambassador, Hoarding UK

10:00am Understanding hoarding and its causes

• Jo Cooke, Director, Hoarding Disorders UK and author of the book ‘Understanding Hoarding’

Jo is going to discuss the symptoms and causes of hoarding, and why it is misunderstood along with the debate on whether hoarding is genetic or learnt behaviour.  Jo will also explain just how much hoarding can impact the individual’s life and the lives of those around them, emphasising why helping those who live with hoarding is so important.

10:30am  Multi-agency working – making partnerships work

• Professor Nick Neave, Chair, UK Hoarding Partnership

Nick will be taking us through how multi-agency initiatives can help address hoarding behaviours in the UK. He will take us through research from multiple research studies which suggest a need for multi-level approaches with hoarding and some examples of where this approach has worked in the past. Finally, Nick will explain the UK Hoarding Partnerships, their goals as a group, what they help with and how to contact them.

11:00am Break

11:20am Enforcement and legal tools – knowing when to act

• Anna Bennett, Partner, Devonshires

Anna will provide some insight on how organisations can manage hoarding from a legal perspective. Through her experience with housing management law and property litigation, Anna will explain the legal routes Housing Associations can take when required and best practice for taking legal action in hoarding cases, including the point at which legal action should be taken.

11:50am What we need from Government: A hoarding framework

• Heather Matuozzo, Founder, Clouds End CIC

Heather is going to provide some context on National Hoarding Behaviour guidelines in the UK and the issues they do not cover. She will explain how this lack of clear and comprehensive guidance treats hoarding purely as a practical or environmental problem, ignoring the fact that it is a recognised mental health condition. Heather will also discuss how the lack of guidance has a negative impact on professionals and therefore why guidance is needed and what it should include.

12:20pm Event summary and closing thoughts

• Megan Karnes, Founder and Chair, Hoarding UK

12:30pm Close

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