Closed circuit on tour at CIH conference

Closed Circuit wondered if it had uncovered a scandal on the opening night of the Chartered Institute of Housing conference. At the conference dinner on Monday, the CIH’s chief executive Grainia Long was witnessed slipping a £20 note to governing board member Jim Strang. Was it hush money? It turns out the money was payback for a good turn. ‘Grainia was stuck in Glasgow without any cash, and I had to help her out,’ said the kind-hearted Mr Strang.

Closed Circuit felt underdressed at the Welcome to Manchester dinner on Monday, having bumped into Robert Grundy, director of investment housing consultancy at Savills, who was wearing a dinner jacket and bow tie. Closed Circuit’s spy, dressed in a casual lounge suit, looked a bit panicked - was this a black tie bash? Luckily, it wasn’t. Mr Grundy obviously didn’t read his invite properly and overdressed. ‘The name’s Grundy, Robert Grundy,’ he took delight in telling fellow delegates.

Among the sought-after raffle prizes (iPads and champagne) at the Welcome to Manchester dinner on Monday were radiator covers - and Fanchea Kelly, chief executive of Edinburgh-based landlord Blackwood Homes, was lucky enough to win some. However, she was not able to carry them on the train back home. So, what to do? Within moments, Ms Kelly had sold them to Jim Hayton, policy manager at the Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers. This would seem to dispel the myth that housing association figures are not enterprising enough.

Closed Circuit enjoys the annual Chartered Institute of Housing Manchester conference as much as the next housing bod and makes an effort to be there every year. However, the dedication of one delegate this year deserves special mention. Paddy Gray, professor of Housing at the University of Ulster, flew back from the World Cup in Brazil to arrive in Manchester minutes before the conference started. Who needs the Copacabana beach when you can debate the provision of sub-market housing without government subsidy?

In any new job, you have a certain period of grace where mistakes can be brushed off with the excuse: ‘Sorry, I’m new’. This is all well and good, but it can’t go on forever, and perhaps someone at the Homes and Communities Agency needs to have a word with chief executive Andy Rose. The former banker made much of only having been in the role for three months at last year’s CIH conference. But a whole year on, he’s still at it, with four references to how new he is to the sector in his speech yesterday.

Closed Circuit has been investigating a new front line housing trend: animal magnetism. This year, Nora the owl is back at the conference for New Charter. The staff worker ‘beneath’ Nora didn’t give a hoot that mascot duties went beyond his normal job description, but he does have to take regular breaks so as not to overheat. Ongo Bear, mascot for 10,000-home North Lincolnshire Homes, has been tweeting his support: ‘Sad not to be at #Housing2014 to meet @NoraTheOwl’ Ongo said.

Send your juicy housing gossip to closedcircuit@insidehousing.co.uk