With housing professionals at all levels under huge operational pressure and being forced to juggle priorities, resources and finances, it is increasingly hard for the sector’s leaders to think about the future.

What will the housing landscape look like in 10 to 15 years’ time and how do social landlords need to change in order to meet ever rising demands for safe, decent and affordable homes and look after the people who live in them?

With advances in tech and AI, there is also an opportunity to harness new ways of working to ensure organisations run more smoothly and efficiently while meeting the demands of its future employees to help the sector become an employer of choice for graduates and apprentices.

To help sector leaders understand the challenges ahead, HQN is holding a special one-off event for senior teams and boards where we will bring together some of the country’s leading experts on how we can harness technology and AI, alongside thought leaders in the housing sector.

The day will have a strong focus on what we need to do to hand on the baton to the next generation of housing professionals, while understanding the needs of our future residents and communities.

What will be covered:

• The future of work – boots on the ground or a hybrid approach? What is best for residents, communities and employees?
• Our future homes – how can we ensure we deliver safe, decent and affordable housing that meets the needs of future residents?
• Using technology to improve the customer experience – what works, what doesn’t and what’s on the horizon?
• The importance of data and information management and why it needs to be at the heart of any future business
• The latest trends in AI and tech
• Hear direct from the next generation of housing professionals on what they need now to thrive in the future.

Confirmed speakers:

• Charlotte Holloway, Former Director of Government Relations, Zoom Video Communications and board member, TechUK
• Ben Unsworth, Senior Partner – Major Projects, TPXimpact
• Kate Roberts, Head of Customer Success, Switchee
• Alan Keers, Chief Executive, Twenty11
• Anne Bentley, Neighbourhood Manager, Worthing Homes & Winner, 2024 Housing’s Next Generation competition
• Dylan Chipp, HQN associate
• Tom Palmer, Director, Ocean City Media.

Who should attend?

This event is for all current and future housing leaders, including:

• Chief executives
• Directors
• Heads of service
• Senior managers
• Business transformation teams
• IT and data teams
• Board members
• Ambitious young housing professionals.

About the venue

Located on the famous Brooklands site in Weybridge, Surrey, Mercedes-Benz World is an incredible setting for corporate and team-building events. The building is spread over three floors with over 100 cars on display including a historic 300SL Gullwing as well as the full range of current sports and performance models. There is also a cinema, restaurant, simulator studio, cafe, displays and exhibitions, event spaces and a shop.

10:30am Welcome and introduction

• Chloe Fletcher, Director, HQN

10:40am The role of service design in shaping the future of the UK’s public services for communities

• Ben Unsworth, Senior Partner – Major Projects, TPXImpact

In this keynote, Ben will examine how putting service design at the heart of digital transformation can support organisations to build a better future for people, places and the planet.

11:15am Our future homes and the relationship with residents

• Kate Roberts, Customer Success Director, Switchee

This session will look at how we can deliver safe, decent and affordable housing that meets the needs of future residents, drawing on Switchee’s working relationship with the UK housing sector.

11:45am Break

12:00pm Learning from the Twenty11 experience

• Alan Keers, Chief Executive, Twenty11

Alan will discuss the Twenty11 story so far and reflect on what other housing organisations can learn from Twenty11 as they look to their future, role and structure.

12:30pm Data assurance – how to ensure your data is accurate, reliable and secure

• Amramanjari Singh, Director of Data & Business Information, Southern Housing

Amy’s session will show how Southern Housing is using good data and knowledge and information management to underpin the business, improve services and drive innovation.

1:00pm Lunch

1:45pm Supplier showcase

• Paypoint

• Protocol Policy

• Voicescape

2:45pm The Next Generation view on the future of housing

• Anne Bentley, Neighbourhood Manager, Worthing Homes and winner of the 2024 Housing’s Next Generation competition

Anne will focus on the role of the future housing leader and how we recruit and retain the right people, create the right operating environment, provide the best services and make sure our homes are safe and decent.

3:15pm AI and the repairs service

• Dylan Chipp, HQN associate and housing expert across repairs, VFM, performance and finance

Dylan will examine the role of AI and technology in shaping the future of social housing repairs, focussing on the global AI position, how housing organisations are responding, practical steps to get value and how the next generation is, and will be, exploiting this technology.

3:45pm Break

4:00pm Restoring the sector’s reputation

• Tom Palmer, Director, Ocean City Media

Tom’s session will focus on how we rebuild the sector’s reputation in light of recent scandals in order to make it attractive to the housing professionals of the future and how we build a compelling narrative around the sector’s role in society.

4:30pm The future of work – boots on the ground or a hybrid approach?  What is best for residents, communities and employees?

• Charlotte Holloway, Policy Associate, Future Governance Forum and Board member, TechUK

In this keynote, Charlotte will discuss the future of remote working in the UK and what’s best for the social housing sector.

5:00pm Close

About Paypoint

Paypoint is a leading payments provider in the UK which works across the social housing sector to provide quality payment advice, tailored support, and training in rental income to housing associations and councils across the UK.

With over 20 years of experience in the field of innovating the payments sector, it has a digital omnichannel payments solution – MultiPay. With over 450 clients using MultiPay and over 514 million transactions processed each year, Paypoint is highly experienced in understanding the impact fintech has upon tenant communications.

Paypoint has a range of digital payment channels including Paybylink, the app service, online, text, direct debit, phone/IVR, cash, cashout and recurring card payments.

Its solution multi-pay is a one stop shop for all digital payment, offering a single view of all payment channels and a point of truth including real time cash data. MultiPay offers providers a full API catalogue to integrate into existing systems, easy integration, and a roadmap with ever-evolving new features.

About Protocol Policy

We live in a world where information is constantly being collected, stored and shared to enable business to be done. Keeping that information safe is one of the great challenges for any organisation. Policies are an essential element of that requirement, protecting information from disclosure, unauthorised access, loss, corruption and interference. Organisations that fail to implement suitable policies face business, reputational and legal risks.

Policy Management as a Service (PMaaS) from Protocol Policy Systems assists organisations to develop, deliver and maintain their IT Policies. All policies are customised to meet each client’s business requirements and they are aligned with recognised standards and best practice guidance such as ISO, PCI and Cyber Essentials Plus.

Protocol Policy Systems has been established for over 10 years and works with over 200 organisations across a range of sectors including housing, local government, utilities, membership bodies and technology.

About Voicescape

Voicescape is the UK’s leading provider of resident engagement solutions for social housing and local authorities. By leveraging machine learning, AI, automation, behavioural insights, and data science, we offer multi-award-winning digital solutions that enhance operational efficiency and service quality. Supporting over 70 UK organisations, Voicescape helps connect with communities across key areas including rent arrears management, gathering real-time customer feedback, and booking safety and compliance checks, enabling resources to be reinvested into supporting more residents and improving outcomes.

Chloe Fletcher, Director, HQN

Chloe has worked in the social housing sector for over 25 years since her first role in housing management with JSS Pinnacle as a trainee housing officer. She completed a Masters in Housing with Professional Qualification at the London School of Economics in 1998 and then moved into housing policy, working on behalf of the London boroughs, initially for London Housing Unit and then London Councils. She joined the National Federation of ALMOs (NFA) in 2007 working with members, government officials and wider housing stakeholders to develop NFA policy and support the ALMO movement.  She has recently left her role as Policy Director at the NFA and joined HQN as Director, working across the business and bringing her knowledge and experience to the wider sector.

Charlotte Holloway, Policy Associate, Future Governance Forum and Board member, TechUK

Charlotte has spent the past decade working in digital and economic policy and advocacy, most recently as Head of Government Relations across Europe, Middle East and Africa at Zoom Video Communications. Charlotte is a Policy Associate at the Future Governance Forum and a Board member at TechUK, the national industry body for the UK tech sector. She is also a Labour Councillor in Plymouth and has been a political adviser on digital, industry and tech policy.

Ben Unsworth, Senior Partner Major Projects, TPXImpact

Ben is the Senior Partner for Major Projects at TPXimpacts.  He was previously Director of Service Transformation at Essex County Council, leading the service design, business design and organisation design teams, building and managing services to better meet the needs of the council and the people of Essex. He has held a range of senior leadership roles across central and local government, including Deputy Director for Data at the Home Office and Head of Digital at Buckinghamshire County Council.

Ben brings a unique skill set which spans design, transformation and solutions engineering. He’s used this expertise to implement open data programmes across Europe, build design-led digital teams in local government and lead in the development of open standards and open source technologies. This work aligns with his passion to develop the people, processes and ways of working we need in 21st-century public services.

Kate Roberts, Customer Success Director, Switchee

Kate is Switchee’s Customer Success Director and is responsible for the strategic vision of the team, plus implementing new ways of delivering exceptional insights to our customers. She also sits on the Senior Leadership Team at Switchee, helping drive the vision of the business forward.

Kate has worked in the housing sector for over 15 years in a variety of roles, including frontline housing management, business intelligence, strategy, policy and research and is one of the industry’s foremost voices on key topics such as Awaab’s Law, damp and mould, co-creation, tenant satisfaction measures and resident communications.

With this experience and knowledge, she has a clear understanding of the challenges housing providers manage at both operational and strategic levels and she regularly advises housing executive teams on how to engage their customers and staff to shape their strategic direction.

Kate also led on several key research projects in the sector, including the DLUHC’s White Paper Baseline survey and the Social Housing Professionalisation Review, the Regulator of Social Housing’s In-Depth Assessment Review, BEIS Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund Evaluation, and, most recently, a review of the Scottish Housing Regulator’s regulatory framework in practice, on behalf of the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations.

Alan Keers, Chief Executive, Twenty11

Alan has led the development of Twenty11 as CEO for over five years, from original tenant concept through to pilot, trial and now growing enterprise.  Alan is also Deputy Group CEO for the parent organisation.  Alan has been in the sector for 35 years, originally hailing from a surveying, engineering and property consultant background, moving into technology, communications and housing management during his career.

Anne Bentley, Neighbourhood Manager, Worthing Homes & Winner, 2024 Housing Next Generation

Anne began her working life as an apprentice in the NHS and made the switch to a career in housing seven years ago. She hasn’t looked back since!

She grew up in social housing and is passionate about helping people and making a positive impact on their lives.

Anne is particularly interested in how we can promote social housing as a career choice for future generations and the importance of psychological safety within the workplace. In 2024, she won HQN’s Housing’s Next Generation competition.

Dylan Chipp, Associate, HQN

Dylan is a seasoned expert with over 27 years of experience in the social housing sector, bringing a wealth of strategic and operational expertise to housing associations, contractors and industry stakeholders. He’s dedicated to developing landlord services through data-driven insights, innovative processes and sustainable practices.

Throughout his career, Dylan has held numerous leadership roles, including executive and non-executive positions. His work spans across critical areas, such as repairs and maintenance, asset management, finance and governance, enabling him to offer comprehensive solutions that address the unique challenges of the housing sector.

Outside of his work, Dylan is a keen athlete in Olympic weightlifting, gymnastics and functional fitness.

Tom Palmer, Director, Ocean City Media

Tom founded OCM with fellow BBC editor Samantha Smith and filmmaker Chris Quevatre in April 2021.

He has spent the last decade leading successful digital strategies for the BBC and delivering significant audience growth through website and social media platforms.

As well as working for BBC South West, Tom has also worked for BBC World languages, supporting digital teams in Kenya, Tanzania and Somalia.

Prior to joining the BBC Tom worked mainly in print journalism, starting at the Plymouth Herald before stints at the Press Association and Yorkshire Post and has been a defence reporter, political editor and news editor.

Tom’s corporate experience includes leading a digital media team to bring investment to Leeds and working with some of the biggest marketers and brands in the UK.

Amramanjari Singh, Director of Data and Business Information, Southern Housing

With 14 years of experience in information technology, including almost eight years in the housing sector, Amy has helped different housing associations establish and expand their data and information function.

Under her leadership, she has successfully established a strong and sustainable data ecosystem made of four important functions – data governance, data quality, data architecture and business intelligence.

With a strong focus on data accuracy and reliability, Amy’s approach focuses on leveraging data to improve customer services and operational efficiency. Her work involves ensuring that data is used effectively to drive decision-making and innovation within the organisation through data segmentation and ownership.

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.