8 November 2019
What a thought-provoking two days at the National Smaller Housing Associations' Conference 2019.
A round-up of day one: Wednesday 6 November
This morning's conversations centred on how to cut through the Brexit noise to drive housing up the national agenda. There were also challenging debates on increasing diversity in leadership to improve our relationships with tenants and residents.
"Uncertainty has become structural in our political system. We need to make peace with that."
This afternoon, we heard from Castleton Technology, our preferred housing management supplier, on digital transformation for smaller housing associations. Missed the session? Read the write up.
The day ended with a powerful discussion on development about:
- the challenges a board can face in taking on new projects
- how smaller housing associations can deliver more homes by working together
- organisations having the confidence to follow their ambitions to build more homes.
"Smaller housing associations are the bedrock of our movement. You are at the heart of the communities we serve."
Take a look at what the delegates said about the conference this year
A round-up of day two: Thursday 7 November
We kicked off with Kate Henderson outlining the five asks in our general election campaign. Kate will be sending an email to chief executives with more detailed information on this tomorrow.
Trevor Williams presented an economic forecast focusing on Brexit uncertainty and what it might mean for housing. Then our panel explored the relationship between trust and customer experience.
"Trust isn't something we can take for granted. It takes years to develop and it's so easy to break."
St Mungo's presented research that shows a £1bn drop in funding for supporting people from 10 years' previously − and are calling for £1bn of new investment in response to the MHCLG review of funding for supported housing.
Jon Hobbs from the Vale of Aylesbury Housing Trust gave a insightful and engaging talk on the history of modern methods of construction techniques, and the advantages and risks of using them, highlighting the quality and speed they can bring to the building process and their energy efficiency benefits. Take a look at the presentation slides if you missed it, which will be sent around soon.
This afternoon, we explored how to become data-driven organisations and how we can use this information to better understand and benefit our residents.
"Powerful data analytics are worthless without equally powerful storytelling."
Chris Bancroft
Chris is Head of Events at the National Housing Federation
Chris is Head of Events at the National Housing Federation.
