The new era of inspection is well underway. From the 37 outcomes published to date, key trends are emerging. At this must-attend event, the RSH and HQN’s experts will bring you up to date on progress so far, what they are seeing on the ground – from best practice to horror stories – and what areas are causing most concern.

The idea of inspection can be daunting. While housing associations have been through the IDA process, the new approach goes wider and drills much deeper with the focus on the consumer. It looks at quality and safety as well as how well you know your tenants and the homes they live in. Be ready to answer key questions. How are your board members hearing your residents’ voices? What assurance do they get on compliance?

For local authorities, it’s all of the above as well as a whole new ball game. Added to the “to do list” is a need to establish a relationship with the Regulator, explain your context and demonstrate the effectiveness of your governance structures for your landlord services clearly and concisely.

So far, the vast majority of gradings from inspection fall into C2 territory. Compliance on health and safety issues, a decent asset management strategy based on robust stock condition data, reasonable tenant satisfaction across key areas of repairs, neighbourhood management and engagement are the bare minimum.

The TSM results back this up. The overall verdict is that we are doing ‘okay’ – seven out of 10 tenants are happy, but one in five are not.

But is this really good enough? Something for sector to be proud of?

Even if you think you are meeting the regulatory requirements:

• Can you provide the evidence and assurance that’s needed?
• Have you thought about how you will demonstrate to your tenants and the regulator that you are meeting the standards?
• And where you have issues, that you know about them and have a plan to improve?

At this virtual event you will:

• Hear direct from the Regulator of Social Housing about their views of the inspection process, what they have seen so far and the differences they are finding between housing associations and local authorities.
• Benefit from the insights of HQN chief executive Alistair McIntosh who has been supporting social housing organisations up and down the country and will share his knowledge to help you on your journey to be inspection ready.
• Hear from social housing providers who have been through the inspection process. They’ll share their experiences with plenty of practical tips and ideas – from how they prepared to how they handled their interaction with the regulator.

Confirmed speakers:

• Alistair McIntosh, Chief Executive, HQN
• Angela Holden, Director of Regulatory Engagement, RSH
• Annette Brandwood, Director of Governance and Assurance, Cobalt Housing
• Alison Bennett, Executive Director for Place and Prosperity, South Derbyshire District Council.

Essential for:

• CEOs and managing directors
• Directors of housing
• Directors of assets
• Directors of operations
• Directors of customer service
• Health and safety leads
• Consumer standard leads
• Board members
• Local Authority lead members for housing
• Leader of the council
• Council chief executives
• Governance teams
• Performance teams
• Data teams.

10:30am Welcome and introductions

• Lydia Dlaboha, Deputy CEO, HQN

 10:40am Lessons from inspection

• Angela Holden, Director of Regulatory Engagement, Regulator of Social Housing

Angela Holden, Director of Regulatory Engagement at the RSH will outline what trends and issues the Regulator has come across during its first 8 months of inspections.  She will outline the overall process, what organisations can expect and discuss their findings and ratings so far.  Delegates will also have the opportunity to ask questions directly on any queries they have for future inspections.

 11:10am Sharing the lessons – the housing association perspective  

• Annette Brandwood, Director of Governance and Assurance, Cobalt Housing

• Julie Roberts, Chair of Tenant  Consultation Panel, Cobalt Housing

Annette Brandwood, Director of Governance and Assurance at Cobalt Housing will share their recent experience of being inspected.  She will talk through what happened, what they learnt through the process and discuss her top tips for organisations preparing for the inspection, how it differed from the previous IDAs what changes they are now making as learning from that process.

 11:50am Break

 12:10pm Sharing the lessons – the council view

• Alison Bennett, Executive Director for Place and Prosperity, South Derbyshire District Council

Alison Bennett, Executive Director for Place and Prosperity, South Derbyshire District Council will share her recent experience of being inspected at Melton Borough Council.  She will talk through what happened and what they learnt through the process.  She will focus on the particular issues for councils, how councillors and tenants engaged with it and what lessons she is now bringing to South Derbyshire from that experience.

 12:50pm The view from the outside

• Alistair McIntosh, Chief Executive, HQN

Alistair McIntosh, HQN chief executive, will reflect on the morning’s speakers and share his insights from supporting social housing organisations up and down the country preparing for inspection.  He will also consider what the inspection reports so far are telling us and tenants about the state of social housing in the country.

 1:20pm  Closing remarks

• Lydia Dlaboha, Deputy CEO, HQN

 1:30pm Close

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, specialising in VfM and stress testing. His hands-on approach sees Alistair leading on all HQN’s in-depth assessment mock exercises and support work, designing and running the popular Iron Grip sessions 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 Chief Executive, 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.

Angela Holden, Director of Regulatory Engagement, Regulator of Social Housing

Angela is the Director of Regulatory Engagement at RSH, and is primarily responsible for ensuring landlords deliver the outcomes of the regulatory standards.  Prior to this, Angela was the Assistant Director of Consumer Regulation at RSH where she managed the reactive consumer regulation function and supported in the implementation of the Social Housing Regulation Act 2023.

Alison Bennett, Executive Director for Place and Prosperity, South Derbyshire District Council

Alison is an experienced and highly educated housing practitioner, with a strong belief in the value and importance of good quality, affordable, safe energy efficient homes and the value of a strong sense of community. She has worked in housing for 28 years, and has practical experience of every aspect of housing management and strategy.

Alison has worked her way up from a repairs receptionist, to housing officer, senior team leader, housing strategy manager, area manager, service manager for housing and localities, to her current position.

Annette Brandwood, Director of Governance and Assurance, Cobalt Housing

Annette is an experienced Director of Governance and Assurance with a demonstrated history of working in the not-for-profit and private sectors including Management of Risk Practitioner, corporate governance, quality improvement, leadership, performance management, and is also a Prince 2 Practitioner.

Annette is a lead auditor with a Post Graduate Diploma in Total Quality Management.

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.