duration

Location
Virtual

This year we’ll explore how estate services teams can meet rising resident expectations for cleaner, greener, well-managed neighbourhoods at a time of greater regulatory scrutiny and pressure on costs. Plus, members of the Housing Management Network will receive the estates services toolkit.

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    Resident expectations of estate services have never been higher. This year’s conference examines how estate teams can respond – delivering visible, high-quality services, providing greater transparency on charges, stronger engagement and better-managed neighbourhoods that residents can take pride in.

    From the condition of green spaces and biodiversity to parking management – residents increasingly expect consistent, high standards  and fast, responsive action. This is reinforced by the greater scrutiny the Regulator is placing on service delivery, listening to tenants and greater accountability.

    Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs) now give residents a clearer voice to express their views about landlord performance on the quality of communal areas and estates. At the same time, increased scrutiny from the Housing Ombudsman and wider regulatory reform is raising the bar for responsiveness, communication and consistency.

    All of this comes amid significant financial pressure. Ensuring value for money is a key priority for everyone concerned.

    Delivering high-quality estate services today requires more than frontline effort alone – it relies on effective systems, clear communication, meaningful engagement and strong organisational support.

    Join colleagues from across the sector to explore how estate services are evolving, share practical solutions and learn how to deliver services residents can see, understand and trust – while managing rising expectations.

    What will be covered?

    • What ‘good’ estate services look like in 2026
    • Service charges under scrutiny – building transparency, trust and value for money
    • Greener estates – biodiversity, sustainability and modern green space management
    • Tackling parking pressures and place-based challenges
    • Effective resident engagement and communication, including digital approaches
    • Supporting frontline teams to deliver visible, trusted services.

    Why attend?

    • Hear from sector experts on meeting rising expectations
    • Learn practical examples from organisations improving estate services
    • Discover new approaches to engagement and communication
    • Share challenges and solutions with peers across the sector
    • Leave with actionable ideas to strengthen resident trust and satisfaction.

     Essential for:

    • Estate services teams
    • Housing and neighbourhood officers
    • Staff responsible for service charges
    • Staff managing communal spaces
    • Block management professionals.

    Delegates will leave with a clearer understanding of current best practice in estate services – and Housing Quality Network and Housing Management Network members will receive a copy of HQN’s Estate Services Toolkit.

    If you are not a member and would like access to the toolkit, please contact us at [email protected].

  • Our speakers

    Steven Higginbottom, Senior Consultant, Morada Works
    Steven Higginbottom is a specialist estate services and grounds maintenance consultant with over 25 years’ experience in the social housing sector. Having founded and grown a successful housing-sector grounds maintenance business before selling it to a national provider, Steven now works with housing associations, local authorities and contractors to improve estate services, procurement, contract management and resident-focused service delivery.

    His work focuses on helping landlords and contractors understand what good estate services look like in practice, from visible frontline standards and resident communication through to social value, biodiversity, service charge transparency and value for money. Steven brings a practical, sector-specific perspective, combining operational experience with current consultancy work across estate services reviews, contractor mentoring and housing-sector service improvement.

    Damian Roche, Director, HQN
    Damian Roche is a Director at HQN and lead specialist on the consumer standards and the regulatory framework. He has played a key role in HQN’s consultancy work as the framework has developed – supporting councils, housing associations and ALMOs with self-assessments, evidence packs, gap analysis and improvement planning to strengthen inspection readiness.

    His areas of expertise include tenant and wider stakeholder engagement, governance and assurance, housing management and complaints management and learning; helping organisations show clear oversight and effective grip from board to frontline. Damian is a regular speaker at HQN events and has devised and delivered practical workshops and toolkits to help providers prepare for regulatory scrutiny, including resources focused on lettings and empty homes processes.

    Damian also brings substantial operational experience, with 20+ years in the housing sector, much of it at senior/executive level, including eight years as Director of Customer Experience at Accent Housing.

    Emma Towler, Head of Ownership and Service Charges, Aster Group
    Emma Towler is a leasehold and service charge professional who has worked in social housing for more than 25 years. She is a specialist in home ownership, service charges and welfare reform and income management who has worked extensively with registered providers, ALMO’s and local authorities undertaking KLOE inspections and critical friend reviews of leasehold management and service charges, providing constructive SMART action plans to improve income recovery and improve processes and customer experiences.

    Emma has a proven track record of enabling housing providers to improve income recovery of service charges and improve customer satisfaction amongst homeowners. Emma has been an HQN associate for more than 15 years.

    Daisy Hollingsworth, Communications Officer, London Borough of Tower Hamlets
    Daisy Hollingsworth is a Communications Officer at London Borough of Tower Hamlets, specialising in resident communications within Housing Management. Their work focuses on promoting landlord and neighbourhood services while demonstrating how resident insight directly shapes service improvements, most notably through the Your Voice, Our Action campaign.

    Daisy recently led the launch of a new Housing WhatsApp channel for council tenants and leaseholders, created in direct response to resident feedback. In just six months, the channel has exceeded its subscription targets, achieved a 98% retention rate, and generated consistent two‑way engagement on topics including safety, consultations, community events and service updates.

    At this conference, Daisy will share practical insights from the project, including performance metrics, challenges and solutions, popular content themes, and how new features such as resident Q&A are strengthening trust and participation at neighbourhood level.

    Elsa Baxter, Senior Communications Officer – Housing and Regeneration, London Borough of Tower Hamlets
    Elsa Baxter is a senior communications and stakeholder professional with a strong track record in politically sensitive, high-profile public sector environments. She is Senior Communications Officer at the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, where she leads communications for the Housing and Regeneration directorate — covering housing management, housing options and homelessness, capital delivery, planning and building control, regeneration, and housing policy.

    Elsa advises senior leaders, elected members and the Mayor’s office on sensitive and reputationally high-risk issues, and develops proactive communications and engagement approaches to build trust with residents and partner organisations. Her work includes crisis communications, issue monitoring and horizon-scanning, and delivering integrated campaigns across media, digital and stakeholder channels.

    Previously, Elsa was Senior Corporate Communications Officer at Islington Council, where she led the IslingtonLife resident brand and delivered high-profile public campaigns aligned to council priorities.

    Daniella Rebacz-Drabik, Estate Services Manager, Leathermarket JMB
    Daniella is an experienced housing and estate services leader with over 14 years’ experience delivering operational excellence across estate management, service improvement and resident-focused initiatives. Having progressed from frontline roles into senior leadership positions, she brings a practical perspective to leading teams, managing contracts and driving high-performing, customer-focused services across complex housing environments.

    Alison Inman, Chair of TPAS
    Alison Inman is the Chair of Tpas, the housing sector’s engagement experts, and a Past Presidents of the Chartered Institute of Housing. She is a former Chair of the National Federation of ALMOS and has been hanging around the housing sector for far too long.

    Gabriella Asara, Sustainability Officer, Clarion Housing Group
    Gabriella joined Clarion’s Sustainability team in March 2024. Gabriella works across Clarion’s five regions and with local teams to coordinate and support projects on nature recovery, travel, waste, water, air pollution and energy.

    In 2024-2025 she worked on the GLA-funded WildE3 project in Tower Hamlets, which allowed to test revised ground maintenance practice and inspired the following nature projects.
  • Programme

    10:30am Welcome and introductions

    Steven Higginbottom, Senior Consultant, Morada Works

    10:40am Keynote: The reasons for rising resident expectations on estates: what does ‘good’ look like now?

    Alison Inman, Chair of TPAS
    • How tenants view estates service and why they matter to communities
    • The impact of TSMs and how landlords are changing their views of estates
    • Good practice for engaging communities.

    11:10am Service charges under scrutiny: transparency, trust and value for money

    Emma Towler, Head of Ownership and Service Charges, Aster Group
    • Introducing or increasing service charges in a fair and transparent way
    • Helping residents understand what they are paying for
    • Demonstrating visible value through service quality, monitoring and communication
    • Managing affordability, expectations and resident trust
    • Practical lessons from organisations that have approached this well.

    11:40am Break

    11:50am Beyond cut and clear: The increasing focus on green spaces and biodiversity on estates

    Gabriella Asara, Sustainability Officer, Clarion
    • The wider context and Clarion’s strategy
    • Clarion’s nature recovery programme
    • Practical examples of what Clarion have done in different areas of the UK
    • How Clarion are measuring success
    • What’s next?

    12:20pm Is it time to rethink subcontracting in estate services?

    Steven Higginbottom, Senior Consultant, Morada Works
    • Exploring how local contractor models could support estate service delivery
    • Keeping clear accountability, compliance and service standards in place
    • Creating flexibility, local value and stronger resident relationships through partnership working.

    12:50pm Lunch

    1:40pm Beyond compliance: the HQN Estates Services Toolkit

    Damian Roche, Director, HQN
    • How the toolkit can help improve estate services
    • Using evidence to spot gaps and areas for improvement
    • Building more consistent and resident-focused services

    2:10pm Engagement that works: communicating to manage resident expectations and digital approaches

    Elsa Baxter, Senior Communications officer – Housing and Regeneration, London Borough of Tower Hamlets
    Daisy Hollingsworth, Communications Officer, London Borough of Tower Hamlets
    • Why Tower Hamlets developed a new WhatsApp channel for tenants and leaseholders
    • Practical lessons on setting up, managing and measuring digital resident communications
    • How clearer, quicker updates can help manage expectations, build trust and support engagement
    • What has worked well, what has been challenging, and what others can learn from the approach.

    2:40pm Case study: how frontline estates services teams are meeting new expectations

    Daniella Rebacz-Drabik, Estate Services Manager, Leathermarket JMB
    • The changing role of customer-facing estate services teams and how resident expectations have evolved
    • Delivering visible, responsive, and resident-focused services in day-to-day operations
    • Building stronger communication and engagement with residents and local communities
    • Managing operational challenges, local issues and balancing competing priorities
    • Practical examples of what has worked well, lessons learned and areas that remain challenging
    • Key takeaways for housing providers looking to strengthen customer-facing estate services.

    3:10pm Final Q&A, discussion and wrap up

    3:25pm Closing remarks from the Chair 

    Steven Higginbottom, Senior Consultant, Morada Works

    3:30pm 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

    Bookings are closed for this event.

    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.

Dates



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