CIH Housing 2015: highlights

A new government, a housing crisis, changing demographics, tighter public finances: this year’s Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) Conference presents an opportunity to get to grips with the challenges for housing providers in the years ahead. As the sector gears up for three days of debate, we’ve picked 2015’s themes.

The new political reality: what does it mean for housing?

Housing 2015 is an opportunity to consider housing’s place in the wider national and global economy - and perhaps develop some powerful arguments to sway the politicians in the sector’s favour.

A thought-provoking masterclass on day one of the conference will present the big-picture case for affordable housing, discussing the role it plays in promoting successful cities and driving economic growth. Building homes supports this in many ways, from job creation to ensuring the UK’s economic hubs can access the talent they need. The panel brings together speakers with differing perspectives on how we can unlock global growth through affordable housing, featuring Dr Jan Mischke, author of a McKinsey Report on the subject, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ Jeremy Blackburn and Andrew Carter at the Centre for Cities.

An essential keynote for anyone involved in housing delivery will take place on the Wednesday morning, outlining future economic trends and the impact they will have on the housing market. Dr Gerard Lyons, chief economic advisor to the mayor of London, will join Newsnight’s Duncan Weldon to discuss the prospects for the years to come - and the Bank of England’s assertion that the housing market poses the biggest risk to the UK’s economic recovery in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis.

At a practical level, a thinktank session will consider the potential for institutional investment in affordable housing - housing associations have been well served by these investors in the bond markets, but they have very little equity ownership of housing to date. This session will explore the barriers and how the interests of housing providers and investors might be aligned.

Mitigating the impact on those who are left behind by the recovery is the topic of a masterclass that makes it housing’s business to tackle inequality. The sector is at the forefront of improving employment opportunities, tackling child poverty, improving financial inclusion and increasing educational attainment, and its role has taken on further importance as financial pressures continue. This session will see speakers from L&Q and Thanet District Council discussing how they have taken steps to improve the lives of their residents, alongside Joseph Henson from the Centre for Social Justice, who leads its research into serious personal debt and financial inclusion and is developing market-based policies to tackle entrenched poverty.

Economic trends

Housing is one of the hottest political issues of our time, with Britain in the throes of a housing crisis and social landlords finding themselves in the firing line of increasingly bitter protests over government funding cuts.

Taking place less than two months after the Conservatives’ shock win at the general election, this year’s conference will be a welcome opportunity to understand what the new political reality means for housing, and what the incoming government is going to demand from the sector.

Keynote sessions taking place on each of the three days of the event will provide insight from a range of speakers, including leading political thinkers, housing policy experts and the politicians themselves.

The conference kicks off with what promises to be a very stimulating political panel debate, bringing together Conservative Home founder Tim Montgomerie, journalist and former Lib Dem advisor Miranda Green and Andrew Harrop of the Fabian Society, chaired by the BBC’s Reeta Chakrabarti. They will be followed by former Department for Communities and Local Government permanent secretary and incoming Peabody chair Bob Kerslake and Newham mayor Robin Wales, who will be among those debating the new programme for government and how effectively it will deliver the solutions we urgently need to Britain’s acute housing shortage.

Former housing ministers, including Nick Raynsford, will bring a unique insight into the messages from government so far and the prospects for the future. Meanwhile, in a keynote session which asks, ‘What do we want for housing?’, leading thinkers will address what the sector hopes for - and fears - from the new government. The session will feature Ann Santry, Sovereign chief executive, David Cowans of Places for People and Piers Williamson of the Housing Finance Corporation.

For a more in-depth look at strategic issues, housing leaders will find masterclasses invaluable. In ‘Welfare reform: can housing take the strain?’, speakers will address the realities of this contentious policy issue, discussing the effectiveness of universal credit pilots so far and the potential long-term impact for the sector.

Changing demographics

Responding to Britain’s changing demographics is a key theme of the conference. Housing providers are not only bearing the strain of poverty and an ageing population but the pressures on young people, such as finding sustainable employment.

A keynote session on day two will discuss how the labour market has changed, and how housing providers need to respond. Speakers including Gavin Kelly from the Resolution Foundation and the Confederation of British Industry’s Laura Smith will discuss the new insecurities that tenants face with the increase in zero-hours contracts, how a lack of skills in the construction industry could exacerbate the housing crisis, and the challenges all sectors face as rising property prices and market rents push workers further out of our cities.

Meanwhile, the future of the private rental market will be addressed in a masterclass on Thursday morning, as both the number of private renters and the level of private rents reach record highs across the country. Increasingly vociferous campaigners argue that private tenants need more protection from landlords, while landlords themselves claim that greater regulation is unfair.

This session will bring together Alan Ward of the Residential Landlords Association and Claire Higgins of Cross Keys Homes in what promises to be a lively debate about how the market could be made to work for both landlords and tenants, and what role social landlords could play.

Following this is a masterclass on the challenges presented by the ‘demographic time bomb’ of both a growing population and an increasingly elderly one. According to a report by the Smith Institute, the number of over 65s is growing by 2.5% each year and over 85s by 3%.

By the mid-2030s, there will be 16 million people in the UK aged over 65, and three million over 85. Housing associations will need to provide for increasing levels of frailty and ill health - but also cater for a growing number of older people who remain active and may continue to work into their 70s. The Smith Institute foresees the housing association sector’s client base rising from 2.1 to 3 million households, many of whom will have complex needs. Meeting these needs will cost the sector an additional £1bn each year, and require a reconfiguration of their stock. This discussion will deliver much-needed debate on this issue, with speakers including Ed Cox from IPPR North, Ben Page of Ipsos Mori and James Caspell, business innovation manager at Tower Hamlets Homes and CIH/Inside Housing Rising Star 2014.

Health, social care & housing

New for 2015 is a conference running in parallel to the main programme, bringing together professionals from health, social care and housing for the first time under one roof to address one of the most important challenges facing Britain today: how these sectors can work together to meet the needs of an ageing population and improve health outcomes.

Health, Housing and Social Care 2015 is open to all CIH Housing delegates and will take place on Wednesday and Thursday, providing a valuable opportunity for networking and sharing both best practice and new ideas. Sessions will focus on addressing health inequality and breaking the link between poor housing and ill health, taking an integrated approach to wellbeing, and potential solutions for tackling fuel poverty and ill health among homeless people.

Speakers will include Dr Ann Marie Connolly, director of health equity and impact at Public Health England, Peter Hay, strategic director of adults and communities at Birmingham City Council, and George McNamara, head of policy and public affairs at the Alzheimer’s Society.

Equipping the sector to deliver

Many of this year’s masterclass sessions will take an in-depth look at equipping the sector to meet the challenges ahead, ranging from such technical issues as IT and governance to soft, but no less important, topics such as skills.

In ‘The big data question’, speakers including Google’s Alex Lowe and Richard Blundell, Housing Partners’ chief executive, will discuss how social landlords can harness the power of their data to better target their products and services.

The housing workforce is undergoing significant upheaval with changing demographics, skills shortages and lifestyle choices all making an impact, as well as growing competition between many sectors for the same pool of talent. In a session on strategic workforce planning, speakers will argue that we need to take a holistic approach to management and succession planning in order to attract the skills the sector needs to deliver homes and an excellent tenant service, as well as meeting the demands of a fast-evolving environment. The session features experts with a range of perspectives on people management, including CIH president and Poplar Harca chief executive Steve Stride, who will be launching the presidential commission on leadership and equality, Nick Kemsley of Henley Business School, Greg Campbell of Campbell Tickell and Jo Denye of Teach First.

The delivery of major projects is one area where housing associations will need to upskill if we are to meet Britain’s urgent need for more than 200,000 new homes each year.

Fortunately, there is much recent experience that the sector can draw on. The ‘Delivering major projects’ masterclass pulls together experts involved in some of the biggest and most ambitious projects in Europe, including Ian Lindsay of Crossrail and Julian Foster from Heathrow Airport. Alongside Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) chief executive Andy Rose, they will offer their insights on securing land and finance, navigating the planning process and managing supply chains.

Several sessions share essential knowledge on the governance and regulation agenda. The HCA’s outgoing executive director of regulation, Matthew Bailes, will join a panel of regulators from other sectors to discuss the new regulatory framework for housing and whether it promotes a better sector, and compare best practice.

In ‘Is housing a model of good governance?’, panellists will consider how well governance models have responded to changing organisation structures, particularly with the entry of for-profit providers into the sector. Have housing associations strengthened their governance sufficiently with the advent of co-regulation with the HCA, and what are the skills required? L&Q chair Turlogh O’Brien, governance expert Dr Fiona Underwood of Altair and Helen Bailey of the mayor of London’s policing and crime unit will share their very different perspectives.

Meanwhile, in a session called ‘Creating an “excellent” organisation’, William Butler-Adams, managing director of Brompton, will tell the story of his pedal-powered journey from a small organisation to one of the leading bike manufacturers in the country.