Key takeaways from CHC's 2024 Annual Conference
More than 200 delegates joined us at Annual Conference 2024 for two days of learning, inspiration, and building the foundations of the future of social housing.
We heard from social housing insiders, top political and economic commentators, and colleagues from wider afield focused on helping positively shape the ways we collectively approach our work.
Read on to find our what our key takeaways from Annual Conference 2024 are.
> We may be facing uncertainty, but with so many committed, skilled and passionate people working in the sector, we will continue to do everything we can to make progress on our mission, Community Housing Cymru chief executive Stuart Ropke said.
> Jayne Bryant MS, Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government thinks that our sector’s approach to collaboration is a real strength. You can read more snippets of the Cabinet Secretary's speech in this press release on the Welsh Government website.
Our aim must be to do all we can to ensure that everyone in Wales can be assured of a place to call their home both now and in the future.
> Greater devolution awareness means voters’ eyes will be on delivery of promises in the next 10 months, Deryn Consulting director Nerys Evans predicted.
> The 20,000 homes for social rent target is "laudable - but even if you hit it, you still have a housing crisis in Wales," said BBC Radio Wales Walescast presenter James Williams.
"Ultimately the bigger ticket items have been going in the wrong direction for a long time," James added. This means that "...people are voting in such unpredictable ways because things are tough".
> When it comes to evictions, it’s about relationships over process, Shelter Cymru's Jonathan Clode and Lauren Caley told delegates.
> "Home is where we start from," said ITV investigations editor Daniel Hewitt. Yet, "it is a secondary issue for most in positions of power and the media..."
"The state has retreated too far from its basic obligations [on housing]."
> No complaints are suspicious, said the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales - it can show that your organisation does not have an accessible complaints process. What’s important is dealing with complaints quickly and appropriately.
> Frontline workers are more trusted than the institutions they work for, PwC UK research has found. Additionally, "familiarity and proximity matters” but people want more business engagement on social issues.
Director and housing leader James Bailey also said that "there is a desire for business and government to do more together, rather than do things in isolation".
> The best stories balance emotion and data; they balance human impact with the data, said PR consultant and content strategist Sara Robinson. “Facts fade; data gets dumped; stories stick.”
The UK and Welsh governments have ambitious plans for addressing the housing crisis, with social housing at the centre.
But we know these ambitions are threatened by ongoing public funding constraints that make delivery ever more challenging.
> Change is crucial if we want to deliver the level of affordable housing Wales needs now and into the future, John Griffiths MS said as he launched the new social housing supply inquiry report from the Senedd’s Local Government and Housing Committee.
Among its recommendations, the committee says that Welsh Government should aim for social housing stock to comprise a critical mass of 20% of the housing stock, and up to a third in the long term.
It also says that Welsh Government should improve its understanding of housing by reviewing its approach to data; increases allocation for the Social Housing Grant at the earliest opportunity; and provide social landlords with greater multi-year funding certainty.
You can read our initial reaction to the report's findings and recommendations here.
> The great thing about working in housing is that we all do the same things, but we do it slightly differently and can share learnings, said Merthyr Valleys Homes's assistant director of people Ruth Llewellyn.
> Working in human-focused services, we need to think about the people we work with as much as we think about the people we support, thinks Platfform CEO Ewan Hilton.
> The Welsh Language Standards are not about forcing anything on anyone - it’s about recognising that people engage better in their mother tongue, and providing an “active offer” for people to use it, Ateb director Rhys Evans said.
> For social housing, AI can already be used to streamline the tenancy lifecycle; and offer round-the-clock support to tenants, identifying patterns in emerging issues, said OxGen AI founder Cassidy Bereskin.