duration

Location
Virtual

Unlock the secrets to securing that coveted C1 grading. Join HQN experts and leading practitioners as we share the lessons from the first two years of inspection – and what truly sets high-performing landlords apart.

  • Read more

    For nearly two years, RSH inspectors have been on the road, scrutinising housing associations and councils across the country. Now we bring together the insights behind the dozens of reports published so far.

    What has the Regulator learned? What consistently impresses them? And what, without fail, raises red flags?

    We all know the essentials: rock-solid health and safety compliance, a robust asset management strategy and tenant satisfaction in core areas like repairs, neighbourhood management and engagement. But meeting the standard isn’t enough – can you provide the evidence and assurance the Regulator demands?

    HQN’s inspection specialists will unpack the standout lessons from the first inspection cycle: the strengths the Regulator has highlighted, the gaps that keep appearing in reports and the themes that are shaping the sector’s future.

    You’ll also gain exclusive insights from the HQN inspection team, whose experts have supported landlords nationwide to prepare for inspection – and elevate their performance afterwards.

    And because nothing beats real experience, you’ll hear honest reflections from providers who have already been through the process: how they prepared, what surprised them and how they worked through the Regulator’s findings to secure a positive outcome.

    Key sessions include:

    • The Regulator’s key lessons for landlords from two years of inspections
    • The inspection journey – how you move from a C2/3/4 at a mock inspection to a higher grading
    • The key hallmarks of C1/C2/C3/C4
    • How the RSH uses the TSMs (perception/compliance/quality)
    • The barriers to a good grading
    • Emerging trends
    • How registered providers have navigated the inspection process – and emerged with a positive outcome.

    Who should attend?

    • Consumer regulation/consumer standards leads
    • Governance, risk and assurance teams
    • Performance, data and insight/TSM teams
    • Health and safety and compliance managers
    • Heads of repairs, property services and neighbourhoods
    • Chief executives and managing directors of housing associations and councils
    • Directors of housing, assets, customer services and operations
    • Board members and councillors with responsibility for housing and tenant experience.
  • Our speakers

    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. His hands-on approach sees Alistair leading on all HQN’s mock inspection exercises 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.

    Damian Roche, Director, HQN
    Damian is one of HQN’s experts on the consumer standards. He has played a key role in our consultancy projects since the new regulatory framework began its journey into law and supported a wide range of organisations (local authorities, housing associations and ALMOs) with their self assessments and improvement plans. His particular areas of expertise are in customer engagement and wider stakeholder engagement as well as governance, complaints management.

    Damian is a regular speaker at HQN events and recently devised and delivered a series of workshops to assist providers with their preparations for the new regulatory framework. He has developed toolkits for use in self-assessments, the latest covering the empty homes and lettings process and our condensed toolkit for the regulation of social housing.

    As well as the learning and insight that Damian has gained through consultancy and project work Damian also has hands-on practical experience of delivering services. He has worked in the housing sector for more than 20 years, much of which has been at a senior/executive level, including eight years as Director of Customer Experience for Accent Housing.

    Katie Finch, Director of Assurance and Business Services, Citizen Housing
    Katie Finch is Citizen Housing’s Director of Assurance and Business Services, with responsibility for governance, regulation and organisational assurance. She has over 15 years’ experience in housing, developing corporate services functions and working closely with boards and committees to strengthen oversight, decision-making and accountability.

    In her role, Katie has helped embed customer voice into governance, including the establishment of Citizen’s customer assurance committee – part of Citizen’s formal board structure – alongside wider customer scrutiny arrangements that feed into senior assurance and improvement activity.

    Katie brings a practical perspective on what governance and assurance teams need to have in place to be inspection-ready, drawing on Citizen’s recent regulatory inspection experience and outcomes.

    Michelle Friday, Head of Governance and Assurance, Citizen Housing
    Michelle has over 35 years’ experience in the housing sector and leads Citizen Housing’s governance, risk and regulatory compliance functions, including oversight of Citizen’s internal audit programme. She specialises in designing and embedding organisation‑wide risk and business performance management frameworks and working closely with senior leaders and the board to support effective decision making, strong regulatory compliance and a robust approach to assurance.

    Known for her practical, grounded approach, Michelle brings clear insight into how providers can demonstrate effective control of risk, assurance and regulatory compliance, creating a strong line of sight from frontline operations through to board oversight and ensuring that assurance is both meaningful and impactful.

    Laura Giles, Director of Strategy, The Barnet Group
    Laura has worked for The Barnet Group since 2016. Previously a Head of Service, she became part of the executive management team in September 2023 as Director of Strategy.

    She has worked in social housing for nearly 18 years in a variety of roles from resident involvement and complaints management to project and programme management and strategic planning.

    Her executive responsibilities include strategy and policy, social housing regulation, governance, HR and people development, PR and communications, data protection, complaints and information requests and corporate programmes. As part of her role, Laura also leads on housing and homelessness strategy and policy for the London Borough of Barnet.

    Kelly Deane, Director of Housing and Public Protection Wellbeing, BCP Council
    Kelly Deane is Director of Housing and Public Protection at Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council. She holds strategic responsibility for the council’s strategic housing service, including BCP Homes, which manages more than 10,000 council homes.

    Appointed in 2023, Kelly has led the post‑LGR alignment of the housing management service and driven a significant improvement programme, transforming performance, governance and resident outcomes. This work culminated in BCP Council being awarded a C1 rating by the Regulator of Social Housing in January 2026.

    Alongside housing, Kelly’s portfolio spans public protection and community safety, bringing a strong wellbeing and assurance lens to risk management and organisational grip. Her experience offers practical insight for social housing providers preparing for inspection and strengthening their approach to regulation, assurance and resident‑focused services.
  • Programme

    10:30am Welcome and introductions

    Alistair McIntosh, Chief Executive, HQN

     

    10:35am HQN overview: How inspections are playing out in practice

    Lydia Dlaboha, Deputy CEO, HQN and Damian Roche, Director, HQN
    • The key areas of focus for the RSH and what they are looking for
    • Expectations in respect of governing bodies
    • Barriers to a compliant rating

    10:55am HQN deep-dive: Preparation, evidence and demonstrating grip

    Lydia Dlaboha, Deputy CEO, HQN and Damian Roche, Director, HQN
    • How to get your colleagues and governing body ready to go
    • How you demonstrate outcomes and assurance
    • The key tools you need in your locker

    11:25am Barnet Homes case study: Inspection experience from preparation to follow-up

    Laura Giles, Director of Strategy, The Barnet Group
    • How we prepared: building internal readiness and ensuring the narrative and evidence aligned
    • Surprises and challenges: what caught us out / what took more time than expected
    • What worked well: approaches that helped us stay clear, consistent and confident in interview/evidence
    • What we’ve done since: changes made post-inspection to strengthen assurance and improvement

    11:55am Break

     

    12:05pm Citizen Housing case study: Assurance-led preparation, challenges and learning

    Katie Finch, Director of Assurance and Business Services, Citizen Housing and Michelle Friday, Head of Governance and Assurance, Citizen Housing
    • How we approached readiness: assurance perspective on getting prepared
    • Challenges and surprises: where the pressure points were during the process
    • What helped most: how we kept on top of evidence, messaging and internal alignment

    12:35pm BCP Council case study: Evidence strategy, position statements and prepping people

    Kelly Deane, Director of Housing and Public Protection, BCP Council
    • Preparing your evidence and narrative at scale
    • Using position statements to respond clearly to the scope and keep a consistent organisational story
    • Preparing people for engagement with the regulator – what helped most when getting senior leaders/frontline colleagues ready for interviews and on-site activity

    1:05pm Q&A, wrap-up and key takeaways

    Alistair McIntosh, Chief Executive, HQN

     

    1:30pm Close

  • Cancellations and substitutions

    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.

  • Price and booking

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    If you experience any issues when submitting your booking, please email [email protected] with the name and date of the session along with the delegate name(s), email address(es) and job title(s) and we'll process the booking for you.

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