“Registered providers must communicate in a timely manner with the regulator on all material issues that relate to non-compliance or potential non-compliance with the consumer standards” RSH on self-referrals

If you don’t comply with the consumer standards it may be time to tell the regulator. They expect you to be self-aware and to self-refer. It’s a legal obligation, so you’ve got to do it.

The RSH has been saying, ‘get ready now’ for some years but they know nobody is perfect. Good landlords will have been surfacing problems so that they can deal with them. They’ll have been carrying out some sort of gap analysis against the new standards and the tenant satisfaction measures while looking back to the overarching themes of the white paper.

If you spot any issues of concern, you are duty bound to inform the regulator – don’t try and hide problems, transparency is key.

We know most of the referrals made by organisations focus on repairs, safety and quality. The regulator points to data, systems and culture as the underlying issues.

At this workshop, you will hear direct from RSH on the importance of engaging proactively and maintaining an open dialogue with the regulator in order to manage issues before the escalate.

You will hear from practitioners who have referred themselves to the regulator about the process they went through, the outcome of their experience and the lessons learned.

And HQN’s team of associates will be on hand to provide expert advice on the importance of establishing internal thresholds and the need to prioritise repairs, safety and quality as key areas of focus.

Essential for:

• CEOs and Managing Directors
• Directors of Housing
• Directors of Assets
• Directors of Operations
• Performance teams
• Data teams.

10:00am Welcome and introductions

• Lydia Dlaboha, Deputy CEO, HQN

10:10am Compliance with the consumer standards and when to self-refer

• Karen Doran, Director of Regulatory Engagement, RSH

10.40am The Safety and Quality Standard

• Wayne Hughes, Consultant, HQN

11.10am The legal view

• Kathryn Kligerman, Partner, Devonshires

• Andrew Cowan, Consultant, Devonshires

11:40am Break

11:55am Lessons learnt through self-referral – the council experience

• Richard Shwe – Director of Housing, Hammersmith and Fulham Council

 12.25 Lessons learnt through self-referral – the housing association experience

• Mark Howden, Chief Executive, Peaks and Plains

12.55 – Fredrick Fleet – Act early, save the ship

• Alistair McIntosh, CEO, HQN

1.25 Closing remarks

• Lydia Dlaboha, Deputy CEO, HQN

1:30 Close

Alistair McIntosh, Chief Executive, HQN

Alistair McIntosh is one of the social housing sector’s most respected and best known personalities.

As founder and Chief Executive of HQN, he is regarded as one of the foremost advisers on governance and regulation, specialising in VfM and stress testing. His hands-on approach sees Alistair leading on all HQN’s in-depth assessment mock exercises and support work, designing and running the popular Iron Grip sessions and chairing/speaking at conferences and events.

Career highlights include setting up and running the National Federation of ALMOs, leading the popular consultation on the regulatory standards for housing, and developing an approach to VfM that won praise from the housing minister.

A regular contributor to the housing press, Alistair’s columns are known for their humorous, pointed and painfully accurate assessment of the state of social housing.

Lydia Dlaboha, Deputy CEO, HQN

Lydia joined HQN in 2007 and is currently the Deputy CEO. Her background is in housing management – both general needs and supported. She has worked extensively as a consultant on a wide variety of performance improvement projects. In her current role, Lydia has responsibility for overseeing all of HQN’s work and for quality assurance in particular. She spends the majority of her time talking to HQN members to make sure that our service meets their needs, and on consultancy-related work.

Karen Doran, Director of Regulatory Engagement, Regulator of Social Housing

Karen is part of the senior leadership team at the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) and as Assistant Director Regulatory Operations leads a team of financial and governance regulators responsible for the effective regulation of registered providers.  Previously as Assistant Director Investigation and Enforcement Karen worked on a range of non-compliant governance casework as well as overseeing RSH’s consumer regulation work.

Karen started her career in frontline homelessness and housing management and has worked in housing for almost 30 years in a wide variety of different roles in a local authority and housing association context as well as senior policy roles in central and regional government.   Prior to joining RSH in 2013 she worked in consultancy and from 2008 to 2011 chaired and advised the panel of social housing lenders.  Karen has also been an Audit & Risk Committee member as an independent non-executive director for a housing association based in Northern Ireland.

Kathryn Kligerman, Partner, Devonshires

Kathryn has experience in contentious and non-contentious aspects of the construction industry in both the public and private sectors. She regularly drafts and negotiates bespoke contracts for clients as well as amendments to the standard forms such as the JCT and NEC suits. Kathryn also advises on the merits of construction disputes and represents clients in adjudication, meditation, expert determination and litigation.

Wayne Hughes, Consultant, HQN

Wayne Hughes is an experienced consultant who has worked at a senior level within private and public sector housing related organisations for the past 40 years. He has authored several articles on asset management related activities and has sat on several advisory bodies for the social housing sector, including sitting on the panel which developed the widely used Disrepair Pre-action Protocol. He was also part of the team which established the English House Condition Survey (now called the English Housing Survey).

Richard Shwe, Director of Housing, Hammersmith & Fulham Council

Richard is a highly committed leader, with over 25 years’ experience in local government. He has been with Hammersmith and Fulham for 4 years, firstly in Environment and now as the Director of Housing.  Richard provided strong leadership for the housing service through the Housing Regulator and Housing Ombudsman investigations and has aided Hammersmith and Fulham’s journey of Service Improvement and Housing Transformation following on from recommendations from the Ombudsman.

In July 2024, Richard is now focussing on continuously improving our Repairs and Complaints handling in line with the Ombudsman recommendations, ensuring that H&F can provide the best service possible to residents whilst ensuring that the service is compliant with the new Consumer Standards.

Mark Howden, Chief Executive, Peaks and Plains

Mark joined the trust in May 2019 as our Director of Place, and following a period as Deputy Chief Executive he has taken up the role of Chief Executive permanently. As CEO he reports to our board and has overall responsibility for the strategic and operational direction of the trust and the delivery of our corporate plan.

Mark has more than 20 years’ experience in housing, urban regeneration and economic development, both public and private, working across a variety of sectors, including residential development, student accommodation, education, health and infrastructure.

If you are unable to attend an event or public training course, please let us know in writing (email is fine) at least 48 hours before. Please email [email protected]

Otherwise, a cancellation fee of £60 plus VAT will be chargeable.

If you are using a package place to attend and do not inform us within the agreed time frame, then a place will be taken to cover your non-attendance.

Cancellations must be made in writing, and will be acknowledged by HQN Limited.