Ten years ago this month Professor Martin Cave published his seminal report on housing regulation - ‘Every Tenant Matters’. This marked the high point in the evolution of social housing regulation in England. As the title suggests, the service user was put at the very heart of the regulatory framework devised by the Professor and his team. The report’s blueprint was enshrined in the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008.

It’s time to start again. An old friend came to one of our events this week. He runs big construction projects all over the world. Of course, the fire was the only thing we were all talking about. He came up to me at the end and said – this is housing’s Piper Alpha moment. And he is right. 

Like everybody else, the HQN team has been saddened by the devastating fire at Grenfell Tower in London. We would like to extend our condolences to everybody affected, in particular the families of the victims and those residents left homeless.