duration

Location
London

Taking place at The View in London, day two of our conference will bring senior housing professionals together to hear from some top speakers as we look at everything from the state of the nation and the reality of the housing crisis to the potential of AI.

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    This year’s HQN annual conference examines how housing providers can respond to heightened regulatory expectations, strengthen resilience in an uncertain political and economic climate, and prepare for the future of service delivery.

    Through expert insight, practical examples and forward-looking discussion, the programme focuses on improving performance, managing risk and delivering better outcomes for residents.

    Day two sessions:

    • The state of the nation and what it means for housing
    • Tales from the frontline of the housing emergency
    • The Housing Ombudsman: A farewell to housing and hopes for the future
    • Next Generation final
    • AI in housing – current opportunities, future potential
    • From C3 to C1 – the Guildford Borough Council story.

    Confirmed speakers:

    • Alistair McIntosh, Chief Executive, HQN
    • Mica Joseph, Regional Director of Places (London), Riverside
    • Vicky Spratt, Housing correspondent for the iPaper and author of ‘Tenants’
    • Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman
    • Ben Marshall, Research Director, Ipsos
    • Annalisa Howson, Joint Assistant Director – Housing Services, Guildford Borough Council
    • Guy Marshall, Director, Fuza.

    Explore housing realities, changing expectations, regulatory performance, future innovation, with opportunities to share best practice and take away practical approaches for the challenges ahead.

    For full details of this year’s annual conference, please see this page:

    The Housing Quality Network annual conference 2026: Navigating change – Regulation, risk and the future of housing

    To book for the virtual day, taking place via Zoom, please see this page:

    Day one: The Housing Quality Network annual conference 2026: Navigating change – Regulation, risk and the future of housing

  • 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.

    Mica Joseph, Regional Director of Places (London), Riverside
    Regional Director of Places at Riverside, Mica is passionate about communication and stakeholder engagement being key factors in what we do to deliver great services. A regular presence at sector conferences, she’s progressed through housing roles driven by passion and intrigue, learning from those who’ve led her and from her own experiences to deliver continuous improvements to our sector.

    Named as a Forty Under Forty by Inside Housing and a Top Thirty Housing Today Champion, Mica brings both sector credibility and a refreshingly honest perspective. In her downtime, Mica travels and explores new places as her reenergizing and rethinking time. Mica has worked with HQN over the last six years on several different projects and continues to be a key ally. She was also one of our HQN Future Leader finalists. We’re excited to have her co-chairing the conference this year.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

    Vicky Spratt, Housing correspondent, The i Paper and author of Tenants: The People On The Frontline of Britain’s Housing Emergency
    Vicky Spratt is an award-winning journalist, author, and housing rights advocate. She has been shortlisted for the Orwell Prize three years in a row (2023, 2024, 2025). Her first book, TENANTS, was a Financial Times book of the year in 2022. Vicky is a correspondent and columnist at The i Paper. She writes about the housing crisis, inequality, society, economics and politics. Her work has seen her nominated for a British Journalism Award. In 2017, her writing about the plight of private renters got letting fees banned (the Tenant Fees Act 2019). She gives evidence in Parliament and her work is often referenced by politicians in both houses.

     

    Vicky’s second book, We Were Promised The Moon, will be published in 2026. It is an agenda-setting analysis of how the economic settlement of the last 30 years has fundamentally reshaped life for young adults today.
    You’ll find Vicky regularly on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Newsnight, Radio 4, the Andrew Marr Show on LBC, and the Newsagents. Failing that, you’ll see her speaking at political festivals or interviewing household names such as Michael Gove, Jeremy Corbyn and Angela Rayner.Vicky’s writing is also in demand from other publications such as ELLE and Refinery29 because of her ability to write about complex socio-political and economic problems engagingly.

    Richard Blakeway, The Housing Ombudsman
    Richard was appointed as Housing Ombudsman from 1 September 2019. He has extensive experience in the housing sector, with previous roles including Deputy Mayor of London for Housing, chair of the Homes for London board and a non-executive director of Homes England.

    During his eight years at the Greater London Authority, Richard was responsible for housing investment and land generation programmes. He also led the creation of the first team at City Hall to address rough sleeping, commissioning around £10 million of services each year, as well as the first Social Impact Bond on homelessness.

    Richard is a former board member of the Chartered Institute of Housing and has been an election observer in Somaliland and Ukraine. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and sits on the Administrative Justice Council.

    Richard chaired the Ombudsman Association from 2021-24 and is a board member of the British Library.

    Annalisa Howson, Director of Housing Services, Housing Services, Guildford Borough Council
    Annalisa is a proud housing professional with more than 30 years’ experience in social housing, driven by a commitment to ensuring everyone has a good place to call home. As Director of Housing Services for Housing at Waverley Borough Council and Guildford Borough Council, she leads teams through a rapidly changing housing landscape, with a strong focus on tenant involvement, performance management and professionalism. She has also led teams through Regulator of Social Housing engagement and inspection processes, achieving a C2 rating for Waverley Borough Council in February 2025 and, most recently, a C1 rating for Guildford Borough Council in March 2026.

    Formerly CIH South East and London Regional Group Leader, Annalisa is a dedicated CIH member, helping to raise the profile of social housing and promote professionalism across the sector to ensure everyone has a good place to call home.

    Guy Marshall, Director, Fuza
    Guy is a NED and founder of HAILIE, advising housing boards on assurance, strategy and systems thinking. With a PhD in AI, he also has 15+ years experience of data-driven cultural transformation in tech and data delivery.

    Ben Marshall, Research Director, Ipsos
    Ben Marshall is a Research Director at Ipsos UK, where he leads research projects and programmes that help clients use evidence, insight and public sentiment to inform better decision-making.

     

    He has worked with a wide range of government, public sector and housing clients, including Shelter, Clarion Housing Group, the National Housing Federation, the Centre for Homelessness Impact, the Chartered Institute of Housing and others. Ben is particularly interested in how lived experience and public opinion can support better policymaking, and was lead author of Ipsos’ guide to evidence-enabled policymaking, Evidently Better.

  • Our sponsor
    Birketts are partnered with HQN’s main network and regularly run a series of topical legal webinars and events that your team can benefit from. Birketts also produce a variety of communications for HQN’s news streams to cover case studies of the latest issues affecting their clients.

    Jonathan Hulley, Birketts Social Housing Partner, is an acknowledged expert in the field of housing and leasehold management law and is also known for advising social housing providers on best practice, policy and procedure, including the consumer standards set by the Regulator of Social Housing which Housing Associations have to meet. Jonathan is supported by a wider team.

     

    HQN is proud to be supporting The For Baby’s Sake Trust as part of this year’s annual conference
    The charity works with families to break cycles of domestic abuse and give babies the best possible start in life. Through trauma-informed, therapeutic support, it helps parents make lasting changes while placing the safety, wellbeing and future of the baby at the heart of its work.

    There is a vital connection between domestic abuse, housing security and family wellbeing. A safe and stable home can play a fundamental role in helping families recover, rebuild and move forward. By supporting The For Baby’s Sake Trust, we hope to raise awareness of its work and encourage housing organisations to consider how they can identify need, signpost residents to support and strengthen their response to families experiencing domestic abuse.

    Delegates will hear more about the charity during the conference and can find out more at forbabyssake.org.uk.
  • Programme

    10:30am Welcome and introductions

    Alistair McIntosh, Chief Executive, HQN
    Mica Joseph, Regional Director of Places (London), Riverside

    10:40am Tales from the frontline of the housing emergency

    Vicky Spratt, Housing correspondent for the iPaper and author of ‘Tenants’
    • Reflections from reporting on the housing crisis
    • Discussing ‘Tenants’ and Vicky’s new book ‘We were promised the moon’.

    11:20am A farewell to housing and hopes for the future

    Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman
    • A session providing perspective on Richard’s time as housing ombudsman
    • Hopes and fears for the future of housing.

    12:00pm Break

    12:20pm Next Generation final

    1:20pm Lunch

    2:20pm AI in housing

    Guy Marshall, Director, Fuza
    • Why AI is a strategic issue for housing, not just an IT project
    • Practical examples of how AI is already being used across the sector
    • How landlords can move from quick wins to bigger service transformation.

    3:00pm From C3 to C1

    Annalisa Howson, Director of Housing Services, Guildford Borough Council
    • Guildford’s consumer regulations and inspection journey
    • Lessons learned and practical tips.

    3:30pm Break

    3:45pm The state of the nation and what it means for housing

    Ben Marshall, Research Director, Ipsos
    • What the latest political and economic polling tells us about the state of the country and people’s views
    • Where housing fits into the national conversation.

    4:20pm Keynote

    Alistair McIntosh, Chief Executive, HQN
    • The latest views from HQN’s CEO. 

    4:50pm Closing remarks and Next Generation winner announced

    5:00pm 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

    If you are a member of the Housing Quality Network, you have a free place at our annual conference as a part of your membership.

    Contact the events team at [email protected] to find out how many free places you have available.

    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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