As economic pressures mount and political uncertainty swirls at home and abroad, one thing is clear: social landlords can’t sit back and wait for a government rescue package. The time to act is now.

Held over two days, the key themes for this year’s conference, include:

• Making the most of what you have – unlocking the power of partnerships, people and places
• Delivering homes that residents can be proud of – despite funding pressures
• Building community resilience and bridging division in challenging times.

The government has promised “the biggest boost to affordable housing in a generation” – but will it be enough? Taking place after the Spending Review in June and with the next Affordable Homes Programme on the horizon, our conference will look at what the government is offering and what it means for your organisation and the sector as a whole.

Meanwhile, with consumer regulation tightening, uncertainty around future development, and trust with residents under the spotlight, this is your chance to reflect, recharge and reset.

Two days. Two formats. Outstanding insight:

Day 1 – Virtual: Easy, inclusive access for everyone

Day 2 – In-person at The View, central London: Deeper discussion, useful networking

Hear from top speakers:

Florence Eshalomi MP – Chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee

Ash Sarkar – Journalist & political commentator, on the culture wars and housing

Professor Keon West – Author of The Science of Racism, on identity, inequality and inclusion

Kate Dodsworth – Reflecting on a landmark year in consumer regulation

Plus…

The Housing’s Next Generation Grand Final – celebrating the sector’s rising stars

Get stuck into practical sessions on:

• Tenant scrutiny and the value it brings
• Awaab’s Law – implications for landlords
• Governance lessons from the Post Office scandal from Beyond Governance
• Community resilience and quality of life
• Lessons from inspection and navigating new developments.

Who should attend?
A must for senior leaders and changemakers in housing:

• Chief Executives
• Executive Directors
• Senior Council Staff
• ALMO leaders
• Board Members
• Strategy and Policy leads
• Councillors.

Why come?

• Hear from bold, visionary speakers
• Take away practical, actionable advice
• Stay ahead of the curve on funding, regulation and strategy
• Build meaningful connections across the sector.

Alistair McIntosh, CEO, 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.

Keon West, Professor of Social Psychology, University of London

Keon West is a Professor of Social Psychology  and an expert on identity, prejudice, and representation. He has published over 60 empirical papers which have been cited over 1800 times in the wider scientific literature.

His research, teaching, media engagement, and social activism have earned him numerous international awards. He has also presented programmes on nakedness and racism for BBC World Service, BBC Radio 4 and Channel 4 TV as well as appearing as a contributor for  newspapers, on radio and on television (including BBC Radio 4, BBC World Service, Channel 4, and the Discovery Channel) discussing his research and area of expertise.

A truly international academic, he was born in Trinidad, grew up in Jamaica, and studied in the USA and France. He finally came to the UK as a Rhodes Scholar in 2006 to do his doctorate in Social Psychology at Oxford University.

Keon is the co – author of the original audiobook Skewed – How Bias Distorts Our View of Other People and How to Make It Stop and his new book The Science of Racism: Everything you Need to Know But Probably Don’t Know – Yet is available now.

Madeleine Jennings, Head of Policy and Communications, Local Trust

Madeleine leads on policy and communications for Local Trust, the charity set up to support delivery of the Big Local programme of community-led neighbourhood regeneration.  She oversees engagement within the policymakers and with wider civil society. She aims to maximise engagement with Big Local, celebrating the people at its heart whilst looking for opportunities to embed the core principles of the programme in public policy.

Kai Jackson, Scrutiny Panel Chair, Black Country Housing Group; Tpas associate; Tenant Advisory Panel member, National Housing Federation

Kai, a BSc Psychology and Counselling graduate with BPS accreditation, chairs a tenant scrutiny panel and advocates for inclusive tenant engagement. She collaborates nationally with NHF, Tpas, CIH and more. Author of “Is There a Seat at the Table” Kai champions diverse voices and community-led housing initiatives across the sector.

Amanda Newton, Chief Executive, Rochdale Boroughwide Housing

I took up my role leading Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) in September 2023. I had previously been in an executive role leading customer facing teams in a social housing provider and before that a senior leadership role in governance, performance and business improvement. Before that I worked for the Regulator of Social Housing and in PwC’s consulting practice. I started my career in banking. I am unapologetically passionate about the positive difference we make to the people who live in our homes – they are the reason we are here, and they need to have the loudest and most compelling voice in our business. A key part of my role is spending time out and about with our colleagues visiting customers and seeing the difference that the amazing people who work for RBH make.

Louise Wood, Service Director for Planning and Housing (Chief Planning Officer), Cornwall Council

Louise’s planning career began in art and design where her interest in the impact of homes on people ultimately led to a focus on the creation of places and homes.  She worked first for several London local authorities before retuning home to Cornwall in 2008, taking on a range of roles at Cornwall Council across policy and strategy, development management, regeneration and housing.  The delivery of large-scale projects, most notably West Carclaze Garden Village, has been a significant focus of her work.  Her current role encompasses both planning issues and oversight of existing and new council homes.

She is Public Practice Director (non-executive) and Co-Chair of the Association of Directors of Housing  (ADoH) implementation steering group.

Ash Sarkar, journalist and leading political commentator on the culture wars

Ash Sarkar is a writer, lecturer and broadcaster based in London. She is a Contributing Editor at Novara Media where her work focuses on current affairs, popular culture, politics and social issues. Her by-lines have also appeared in The Guardian, Huffington Post UK and The Independent amongst others. She is a frequent presence on UK broadcast media, and has appeared on Question Time, Good Morning Britain, and Radio 4’s Moral Maze. Her first book MINORITY RULE was published this year by Bloomsbury and became an instant Sunday Times bestseller.

Kate Dodsworth, Chief of Regulatory Engagement, Regulator of Social Housing

Kate started her career in homelessness in 1992, working firstly with rough sleepers in Birmingham through to managing a large hostel for single homeless in Brighton for five years. She gained a Masters degree in Housing in 2003 and moved to the National Housing Federation where she performed a variety of roles; latterly Assistant Director. Kate moved to AmicusHorizon in 2013 (Optivo from 2017) becoming Executive Director of People and Communications. She was Chief Executive of Gateway Housing for three years before taking up her current role with the Regulator of Social Housing. Kate was an external examiner for Westminster University until 2020 and a founder member of Leadership2025.

Nye Cominetti, Principal Economist, Resolution Foundation

Katy Wilburn, Head of Transformation, First Choice Homes Oldham

Katy has worked in multiple consultancy roles across the social housing sector for the past 13 years. She currently chairs Thirteen Group’s Customer Committee, acts as the Insight and Performance Group lead for Greater Manchester Housing Providers and is First Choice Homes Oldham’s Head of Transformation.

John Davies, Governance Director, Beyond Governance

John Davies is a seasoned governance professional with over 25 years’ experience across various sectors, including travel and leisure. At Beyond Governance, he specialises in corporate reporting, governance gap analysis and providing on-demand company secretarial services.

John’s expertise includes preparing annual reports for FTSE 250 and AIM-listed companies, integrating best practices and proxy advisory recommendations. He is known for delivering clear, practical solutions to governance challenges, helping organisations navigate their next phase of development with confidence.

Florence Eshalomi, MP, Chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee

Florence Eshalomi is the Labour (Co-op) MP for Vauxhall and Camberwell Green and has been an MP continually since 12 December 2019. She is the chair of Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee which scrutinises the policy, administration and spending of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

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.

Paypoint have partnered with HQN’s Rent Income Excellence Network to work with members and receive feedback from key decision makers around its industry leading solution multi-pay.

Paypoint have worked with HQN on a series of webinars and events around digitalising payments. Your Homes Newcastle (YHN), a housing association managing over 25,000 homes in the North East, have already taken advantage of this new partnership, using one of MultiPay’s channels, PayByLink to chase arrears, prompt payments and take secure payments over the phone.

Tuesday 15 July (Virtual event)

10:30am Welcome and introduction

• Alistair McIntosh, CEO, HQN

10:45am The Science of Racism

• Keon West, Professor of Social Psychology, University of London

11:20am Making a positive difference to communities and wellbeing

• Madeleine Jennings, Head of Policy and Communications, Local Trust

11:55am Break

12:15pm Improving satisfaction – getting the best out of tenant scrutiny

• Kai Jackson, Scrutiny Panel Chair, Black Country Housing Group; TPAS Associate; Tenant Advisory Panel member, National Housing Federation

1:00pm Lunch

2:00pm The impact of Awaab’s Law – can we do it all?

• Amanda Newton, Chief Executive, Rochdale Boroughwide Housing

2:30pm Housing‘s Next Generation competition grand final – Task 1

• Finalists have been asked to film a short video tackling a key issue set by HQN that focuses on the ongoing challenge of “delivering for tenants”. The videos will be shown and you will have a chance to vote for your favourite.

3:10pm Local government re-organisation – the impact on social housing

• Louise Wood, Service Director for Planning and Housing (Chief Planning Officer), Cornwall Council

3:40pm Closing remarks

• Alistair McIntosh, CEO, HQN

3:45pm Close

Thursday 17 July (Face to face event)

10:30am Welcome and introduction

• Alistair McIntosh, CEO, HQN

10:40am Minority rule – Adventures in the culture war  

• Ash Sarkar, journalist and leading political commentator

11:15am Is regulation working – the lessons so far

• Kate Dodsworth, Chief of Regulatory Engagement, Regulator of Social Housing

11:45am How to prepare for inspection

• Alistair McIntosh, CEO, HQN

12:15pm Break

12:30pm Housing’s Next Generation grand final – Task 2

• Finalists have been asked to present a 3-minute pitch proposing a new product, service, idea, or innovation designed to address a key challenge faced by social housing providers. The aim is to spark practical, scalable and creative solutions that can improve the future of social housing. You will have a chance to vote for your favourite after the presentations.

1:10pm Lunch

2:10pm The economic outlook for the communities we serve

• Nye Cominetti, Principal Economist, Resolution Foundation

2:40pm Improving tenant satisfaction

• Katy Wilburn, Head of Transformation, First Choice Homes Oldham

3:10pm Break

3:25pm Getting governance right

• John Davies, Governance Director, Beyond Governance

4:00pm Government priorities and community needs

• Florence Eshalomi, MP, Chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee

4:30pm Final remarks

• Alistair McIntosh, Chief Executive, HQN

4:40pm Housing’s Next Generation – winner announced

5:00pm Conference close

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. Delegates may be substituted at any time.