duration

Location
The Exchange, Birmingham

Designed as much for engaged residents as housing colleagues, this is a chance to come together in Birmingham, share ideas and hear different perspectives. Join MHCLG, Daniel Hewitt, Alison Inman and more to explore what meaningful resident engagement looks like in today’s regulatory landscape.

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    “This was about power – who has it and who does not. Who is listened to and who is ignored” Daniel Hewitt on the relationship between social landlords and tenants.

    You absolutely will not want to miss this year’s Residents’ Network conference.

    Our headline speaker is ITV News’ Investigations Editor Daniel Hewitt who has spent the last five years investigating housing in the UK.  His new book Left to Rot: How Governments Have Betrayed Us and How We Fix It tells the shocking story of Britain’s housing crisis through the people stuck in its grip, many of whom live in poor quality social housing.

    At the conference Daniel will be taking part in a ‘Have I Got News For You’ themed panel discussion with a panel of residents and housing experts (including Alison Inman, TPAS chair and one of the sector’s most powerful voices) exploring current issues affecting the sector.

    Chaired by our ineffable associates, Rob Gershon and Jane Eyles, the theme for the event, which will be held at The Exchange in Birmingham on 15 October, is the importance of meaningful engagement in the new regulatory landscape and how housing providers need to move beyond tokenism to ensure tenants are at the heart of decision making and service delivery.

    The day features a lineup of speakers who will inform and inspire you with their insights and ideas, including…

    The MHCLG social housing team will provide an overview of the Social Housing Quality Programme, give a resident-focused update on preparations and guidance for Awaab’s Law Phase 2 and explain what MHCLG are doing to improve resident experience and empower residents.

  • Our speakers

    Jane Eyles, Associate, HQN
    Jane is an HQN Associate and has been a social housing resident, board member and consultant specialising in resident engagement since 1990. This means she is able to bring multiple perspectives into housing. She has held senior positions such as Head of Housing for Brighton Housing Trust, Head of Engagement for LB Camden, Genesis and Hexagon and Tpas SE Regional Manager as well as 20 years consultancy including the development of resident led scrutiny.

    Rob Gershon, Associate, HQN
    Rob is a social housing tenant and activist who brings a clear, resident-led perspective to how landlords communicate and build trust. After being affected by the Welfare Reform Act (2012), Rob began blogging about welfare reform and went on to write widely on housing issues and policy.

    He has been active in the SHOUT campaign, previously served as Lead Associate for HQN’s Residents’ Network and worked with tenants and the housing ministry on developing a stronger national tenant voice. Rob was also one of the commissioners on Shelter’s Vision for Social Housing following Grenfell and has since supported wider work with organisations including Grenfell United, Shelter and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation on reform and on changing how we talk about social housing.

    Rob continues to contribute to sector debate, including through HQN and the Residents’ Network.

    Daniel Hewitt, Investigations Editor, ITV News
    Daniel Hewitt is a journalist, author and presenter. He is currently Investigations Editor at ITV News, where he has spent the last five years investigating housing in the UK. His work has led to legislative change as well as six independent inquiries and investigations by the UK Parliament, Welsh Assembly and Housing Ombudsman. He was named Specialist Journalist of the Year by the Royal Television Society in 2022 and 2024 and has been shortlisted five times for The Orwell Prize. His podcast ‘The Trapped’ won a Radio Academy prize and a British Podcast Award in 2025. He has just published his first book ‘Left to Rot: How Governments Have Betrayed Us and How We Fix It’.

    Charlotte Bailey, Tenant Partnership Manager, Winchester City Council
    Charlotte is the Tenant Partnership Manager at Winchester City Council, where she leads on tenant engagement, co-production, and resident influence across Housing Services.Over the past four years, Charlotte has helped redesign the council’s approach to tenant involvement, developing a co-production framework that brings tenants into policy development, service improvement, scrutiny, and complaints learning.

    Her work focuses on practical, inclusive engagement that helps housing services better understand residents, strengthen accountability, and meet the expectations of the Consumer Standards.

    Lorna Biddell, Co-Creation Officer, London Borough of Redbridge

    Lorna is a co-creation officer with just over two years’ experience in the housing sector. She was looking for a role where she could make a real difference, and leading on co-creation has allowed her to do exactly that.

    In her role, she uses performance data to identify key areas of resident dissatisfaction and leads collaborative service improvement projects. These projects bring staff and residents together as equal partners, ensuring lived experience directly shapes recommendations and outcomes.

    Rowan Mackay, Senior Project Adviser, Community Led Housing
    Rowan is a housing practitioner and researcher specialising in community led housing and collaborative practice. He is Senior Advisor at Community Led Homes and PhD Researcher at CRESR Institute, Sheffield Hallam University.

    Alison Inman, Board Member and Chair, 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”.

    Dan Young, Strategy, Governance and Resident Engagement Lead, Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government
    Dan has been in the Social Housing Directorate of MHCLG for a number of years, previously working on the bill team throughout the passage of the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 and on decency standards that led to the update of the Decent Homes Standard and setting of Minimum Energy Effendy Standards earlier this year. Dan is currently Strategy, Governance and Resident Engagement Lead with the aim of working with residents throughout the policy development stage and making sure that their voices are heard both in government and across the sector.

    Monique Duchen, Head of Customer Service/Deputy Safeguarding Lead, emh
    Monique is a senior Customer Experience leader in social housing, passionate about creating inclusive, accessible and people-centred services. She is particularly passionate about amplifying unheard voices, improving responses to vulnerability and domestic abuse, creating equitable opportunities and challenging organisations to think differently about the experiences of both their customers and their colleagues.

    Having grown up in social housing herself, Monique brings authenticity, energy and purpose to conversations about leadership, culture and the importance of turning good intentions into meaningful action.

    Brian Griffin, Resident, Berneslai Homes
    Brian Griffin is an actively involved and engaged tenant living in Barnsley, with a passion for listening to tenants’ experiences and bringing these to the front of decisions made that affect the services received by tenants.

    He believes in holding our landlord and service providers to account to ensure value for tenants’ money and services appropriate to their needs. He believes real transparency, influence, scrutiny and accountability are needed from all to ensure the best services for all.

    Steve Innet, Associate, HQN
    Steve’s career has been dedicated to empowering people who are disadvantaged, helping to amplify their voices and empower them to achieve their goals and bring about a fairer system to support them to do so.

    Growing up in an East Kent mining village during the miners strike in the 1980’s showed Steve the hardship people can go through. Since then, he has worked in services that aim to improve the system and address inequalities; nursing, social work, community development, adult learning, housing, homelessness, advice and Healthwatch.

    Charlotte Hilliard, Awaab’s Law – Evaluation Lead, Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government
    Charlotte Hilliard is the Evaluation Lead for Awaab’s Law as part of the Social Housing Quality and Residents division in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). She leads the Test and Learn Programme to understand how effectively Awaab’s Law is being implemented across the social housing sector and to assess the impact of this policy. She has a background in housing policy, with a particular focus in raising standards of quality and professionalism in the social housing sector. Charlotte has also previously worked on other policy areas in her role at MHCLG including introducing the Competence and Conduct Standard and the establishment of the Social Housing Innovation Fund, which is aimed at driving initiatives that foster creativity and improve outcomes for residents.

    Sally Trueman, Resident and G15 resident member, Riverside Housing
    Sally has been a Riverside customer for seven years and is a passionate advocate for social housing and the people who live in it. She is committed to challenging negative perceptions of social housing and highlighting the diverse range of people and life experiences within it, using her voice to help reshape how residents are represented in the media and wider society.

    Sally is actively involved in the sector as a member of the Riverside Group Board and the Riverside North Tenants and Residents Federation Executive, where she helps ensure that residents’ voices are heard at a strategic level. She also contributes to the wider community through her volunteering work with a range of charities and has previously supported youth programmes and summer activities for young people.

    Peter Baffoe, Resident, Vice-Chair of board and G15 resident member, Peabody
    Peter brings a strong community-focused perspective to his role, having served as a resident member of the Peabody Board since May 2018 and Vice-Chair of the Board since 2025. With deep roots in the communities he represents, he is committed to ensuring residents’ voices are reflected in decision-making at the highest level.

    Peter works as a Faith and Community Development Officer for the Methodist South London Mission, where he leads initiatives that support local communities, strengthen partnerships and promote inclusion. His work often focuses on addressing social inequality, supporting vulnerable groups and fostering community cohesion.

    Alongside this, Peter serves as a school governor, acting as the link governor for disadvantaged pupils. In this role, he champions equality of opportunity, helping to ensure that all young people, particularly those facing additional challenges are supported to achieve their potential.
    Peter’s combined experience across housing, community development and education enables him to bring a thoughtful, values-driven approach to his work, with a strong emphasis on inclusion, fairness and positive outcomes for residents and communities.
    Michael has been an actively engaged resident for over 40 years, with experience spanning both local authority housing and, more recently, as a resident with L&Q. He is a committed community activist and has worked in partnership with Crime and Disorder agencies to tackle issues such as hate crime and domestic abuse. He is also a strong advocate for challenging stigma associated with social housing, working to change perceptions and promote a more accurate and positive narrative about residents and communities.

    Alongside this, Michael serves as Vice-Chair of the Board at Tamil Community Housing Association, where he also Chairs the Audit and Risk Committee. He is additionally a member of the House Proud Pledge Board, contributing to efforts that promote inclusion and equality within housing.

    As Vice-Chair of the G15 Residents’ Group, Michael plays a key role in supporting the group’s development and strengthening its network. He is focused on ensuring that residents’ voices are central to influencing social housing policy and driving positive change across the sector.

     

  • Programme

    9:45am Arrival, networking, and optional breakfast briefing: Rob’s Rant 

    10:30am Welcome and introductions 

    Jane Eyles and Rob Gershon, HQN Associates

    10:40am Workshop on the new cooperation model of engagement from Community Led Housing 

    Rowan Mackay, Senior Project Adviser, Community Led Housing
    • Why transformative change in this sector can be hard
    • How residents often need far greater acknowledgement of their experience than they’re used to receiving
    • What reassurance landlords need that compliance and their bottom lines won’t be compromised
    • Learn what works to change the relationship at a cultural and structural level.

    11:30am Break 

    11:50am Panel discussion 

    Chaired by: Daniel Hewitt, Investigations Editor, ITV News
    Alison Inman, Board Member and Chair, TPAS
    Monique Duchen, Head of Customer Service/Deputy Safeguarding Lead, emh
    Brian Griffin, Resident, Berneslai Homes
    Peter Baffoe, Resident, Vice-chair of board and G15 resident member, Peabody
    •  ‘Have I Got News For You’ themed panel discussion with a panel of residents and housing experts, exploring current news stories affecting the housing sector.

    12:40pm Stigma and the built environment

    Sally Trueman, Resident and G15 resident member, Riverside Housing
    • How the upkeep of buildings and communal areas impact stigmatisation of social housing residents
    • What organisations and residents can do to tackle stigma in this context
    • Future plans for G15 research.

    1:10pm Lunch 

    2:10pm Workshops  

    • Workshop one: Lego Serious Play
    Charlotte Bailey, Tenant Partnership Manager, Winchester City Council
      • Good co-production doesn’t always mean getting everyone into the same room – sometimes doing that can make it harder for some voices to be heard. Charlotte will explore how LEGO can be used as a tool to:
        • Design a process that gives different people different ways to contribute
        • Actively looks for the voices that might otherwise be missing
        • Creates a way for that knowledge to influence the decision.
    • Workshop two: Co-design in practice: Working with residents on communal areas
    Lorna Biddell, Co-Creation Officer, London Borough of Redbridge
      • Real life experiences of co-designing with residents on communal areas
      • How to bring in data and insight to co-design projects
      • Ensuring co-design leads to meaningful change.

    2:55pm Break 

    3:15pm Workshops 

    • Workshop one: What Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government are doing to improve resident experience
    Dan Young, Strategy, Governance and Resident Engagement Lead, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
    Charlotte Hilliard, Awaab’s Law – Evaluation Lead, Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government
      • An overview of the Social Housing Quality Programme covering what has been recently delivered and what is coming up
      • Spotlight Awaab’s Law Phase 2, due to come into effect on 30 November
      • Discussion on what you can do to improve resident experience and empower residents to have their voices heard within housing organisations and government.
    • Workshop two: HQN Co-design toolkit: Helping you deliver effective and meaningful co-design
    Steve Innet, Associate, HQN
      • Overview of the new HQN Co-design toolkit
      • How to use it to deliver effective co-design
      • What to consider at every stage of the co-design process.

    4:00pm Closing remarks 

    Jane Eyles and Rob Gershon, HQN Associates

    4:15pm Close 

  • Testimonials

    • Very informative, the speakers were very knowledgeable. The whole event was chaired perfectly.

      Wokingham Borough Council

    • I found the event useful, improving knowledge and resources and developing a network of support for the future.

      Heylo Housing

    • Helpful to meet members from different settings and combine thinking on priorities.

      Abri Housing
  • 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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