Dispatches from Cardiff

1. Housing policy review

Tai 2018 took place against an interesting political backdrop. For one thing, Welsh Government first minister Carwyn Jones has recently announced his early resignation from post. Closer to home, the day before the conference housing and regeneration minister Rebecca Evans announced a review of affordable housing policy.

According to its terms of reference, the review will focus on boosting affordable housing supply - though it will also make recommendations on rent policy and sustainable homes.

It was too early for any of the sessions scheduled to tackle the review directly, but inevitably it formed the backdrop to much of what was discussed at the conference.

One senior sector figure suggested to Inside Housing that it could signal a dwindling of social housing grant levels, another questioned where the post-2019 rent settlement would fit into it all.

Of course, the review also formed a large chunk of the minister’s address at the end of the conference - but more on that later.

2. Getting together

CIH Cymru chose “All of us” as the theme for Tai 2018. It refers to the need for a holistic and collaborative approach to tackling Wales’ housing - from ministers, housing associations, councils, developers, the private rented sector, charities and other public services.

Against the backdrop of the aforementioned policy review, that’s certainly a message which commands pause for thought. Matt Dicks, director of CIH Cymru, said while opening the conference that the review “must be of wide focus” - the suggestion being that otherwise, it could become a missed opportunity.

The enthusiasm from the social housing sector is clearly there. A key challenge will be getting those other factions pushing in the same direction - something that was brought into focus by CIH Cymru and YouGov research on perceptions of social housing at the start of the conference. While social housing tenants were found to have an encouragingly positive view of the tenure, people in other kinds of homes were not so sure.

3. Multiple challenges

The collectivity theme of the conference was undoubtedly reflected in the wide-ranging programme.

It included the expected talks on regulation, housing for older people, fire safety and Universal Credit. But there were also well-attended sessions on, for example, Universal Basic Income and what can be done to tackle the seedy world of sex-for-rent landlords.

Many of the most serious discussions took place in a special development seminar held on the second day.

Here experts poured over some of the more technical aspects of boosting housing supply, with presentations from civil servants about how providers can tap into Welsh Government programmes like the Innovative Housing Fund and the new Rent to Own scheme, as well as a talk from Pobl Group about its plans to build 16 “power station” homes.

This year’s keynote speaker was David Olusoga, historian and presenter of the BBC programme A House Through Time.

Aided by liberal use of emphatic pauses, he extolled a troubling perspective: that Britain has historically only managed to solve its housing crises of the past with world wars as the main drivers.

The conference closed with a presentation from Helen White, chair of the Regulatory Board for Wales, and Carol Kay, head of regulation for the Welsh Government. The key question, in the words of Ms Kay: “how do you know what you think you know?” That’s perhaps a reference to Cardiff Community Housing Association, which has faced regulatory intervention due to information management failures. In any case, the regulatory team is about to embark on a review of its practises, with a focus on keeping tenants front and centre.

Session by @DavidOlusoga at #TAI18. Fascinating views, and specifically relevant for my generation regarding home ownership & changes over the decades pic.twitter.com/h8QzkzPJ0Q

— Shannon (@ShannonMaidment)

Session by @DavidOlusoga at #TAI18. Fascinating views, and specifically relevant for my generation regarding home ownership & changes over the decades pic.twitter.com/h8QzkzPJ0Q

— Shannon (@ShannonMaidment) April 25, 2018

4. Minister’s speech

It seems a very long time ago now that Carl Sargeant stood on the Tai 2017 stage and called for a huge push from the sector to help the Welsh Government achieve its target of 20,000 affordable new homes in this Assembly term.

Consensus opinion now is that the target will likely be met - and a new housing minister is of course in place after the tragedy of Mr Sargeant’s death. Ms Evans was noticeably calmer and more assured than her first address of the sector at the Community Housing Cymru conference in November.

Her words were warm but carefully chosen. She praised the sector and made sure to touch on some of its core priorities such as battling homelessness and connecting housing with health and social care.

But here too was what Mr Dicks called a “tacit admission” that tough times lie ahead.

Discussing the policy review, she referred to “the continuing impact of austerity” and described a need to “stand back and consider whether we’re taking the best approach possible and are using all of our resources to the greatest effect”.

While Ms Evans is clearly keen to encourage increasing ambition from the sector, finding a long-term social housing funding solution that works for everyone will be a delicate task.

I spoke at the fantastic #Tai18 conference today about @WelshGovernment’s ambitions for housing, and how important our partners are to delivering this @CIHCymru pic.twitter.com/3odpGMNtb6

— Rebecca Evans (@wgmin_housing)

I spoke at the fantastic #Tai18 conference today about @WelshGovernment’s ambitions for housing, and how important our partners are to delivering this @CIHCymru pic.twitter.com/3odpGMNtb6

— Rebecca Evans (@wgmin_housing) April 26, 2018