What's on
Thursday 2 July

8.45am Registration, networking and exhibition viewing

9.55am Chair's Welcome - Sian Lloyd

📍Powys Suite 

10.05am Scene Setting - Stuart Ropke, Community Housing Cymru

📍Powys Suite 

10.15am Fireside chat | The Great Connector: Housing as the foundation for a sustainable Wales

📍Powys Suite

with Derek Walker, Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, and Clarissa Corbisiero, Community Housing Cymru

This conversation will explore how sustainable placemaking and radical innovation in the housing association sector can move us beyond crisis management. Discover how the housing sector can lead the charge in preventing ill-health, alleviating poverty, and creating communities  that aren't just focused on today, but also fit for the future.

12.00pm Workshops

1. Scaling high-quality homes and social value through partnership

📍Garden 1

• Gemma Clissett (Lovell Partnerships) and Rhianydd Jenkins (Beacon Cymru)

This session brings together two groundbreaking models of partnership that dismantle delivery barriers to build sustainable, people-focused communities at pace.

Gemma Clissett will share insights from Lovell’s transformative new 10-year partnership with Cardiff Council and the Vale of Glamorgan Council—a landmark initiative set to deliver 2,500 energy-efficient homes across 25 sites. Gemma will explore how this regional, cross-boundary model accelerates the scale and pace of affordable housing delivery while investing in local economies and community infrastructure.

Shifting the lens to localised innovation, Rhianydd Jenkins from Beacon will reveal the realities behind the Pemberton development in Llwynhendy, Llanelli. Delivering 70 homes on former Tata Steel UK land alongside local contractor Edenstone Homes Ltd, this project showcases circular economy principles by using local Tata Steel products and Catnic Solarseam roofs to enhance biodiversity and renewable energy integration. Crucially, the project channels deep social value directly into the community by renovating a town centre premises for Llanelli Mind, creating a vital non-clinical drop-in mental health support hub for young people.

Together, our speakers provide an honest and transparent breakdown of the benefits, the perceived and real barriers encountered, and the lessons learned from these differing scales of collaboration. They will map out their future hopes for moving the sector forward. 

2. Warm homes, shared goals 

📍Garden 2

• Akshita Lakhiwal (TPAS Cymru) and Andy Fraser (Onnen)
  
  

We know that a house is only a home when it’s safe, comfortable, and affordable to heat. This session moves beyond the technical jargon of 'retrofit' to focus on what truly matters to residents. Join us as we explore how housing associations and residents are co-designing the journey toward energy efficiency - ensuring that the homes of the future are not just greener, but warmer and cheaper to run for everyone.

This workshop is kindly sponsored by Victorian Sliders

3. Making health partnerships work

📍Powys Suite

• Chaired by Rhea Stevens, Community Housing Cymru

In conversation with:

Callum Ridge, Swansea Bay University Health Board

Sam Austin, Cardiff & Vale Regional Partnership Board

Fflur Jones, Audit Wales

Beth Underwood, Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board

4. Resident-led asset intelligence

📍Wedgewood

• Henrik von Bahr, Plentific
  
  

The traditional approach to asset management is increasingly insufficient in a landscape of heightened safety standards and digital transformation. This session will discuss the transition from reactive repair cycles to proactive interventions enabled by data. By leveraging resident feedback loops alongside real-time building performance data, organisations can optimise resource allocation, mitigate systemic risks such as damp and mould, and ensure that every pound of expenditure delivers maximum value for the community.

13.50pm A new mandate for Wales: The post election landscape
Siân Gwenllian MS, Cabinet Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning

📍Powys Suite

The votes have been counted and the new Senedd is in session. As the political dust settles in Wales, this opening keynote will provide a high-level briefing on the new government’s vision for Wales. We will explore the immediate priorities of the incoming administration and a "birds-eye view" of the political landscape, identifying the key themes that will define the next four years of Welsh housing policy.

14.30pm Panel session: The delivery blueprint

📍Powys Suite

Now that we have mapped the new political landscape in our opening keynote, this session pivots from what the new government wants to how we deliver it. Our expert panel will break down the high-level Senedd ambitions into a practical roadmap for the sector. We move beyond manifesto promises to discuss the practicalities of delivery in development, asset management, and housing services. Our panelists will debate the collaboration required to meet high-level targets in a shifting economic and political climate, providing a candid look at how we can align our organisational strategies with the new national agenda while continuing to provide high-quality homes for the people of Wales.

In conversation with:

• Rhea Stevens, Community Housing Cymru

• Paul Bradley, Scottish Federation of Housing Associations

• Auriol Miller, Cynon Taf Community Housing Group

• Ollie Cole, Times Radio

3.00pm Workshops

1. Tackling barriers to build more homes: Where next?

📍Powys Suite

• Helga Warren and Stuart Fitzgerald, Welsh Government

In recent years, significant activity has been undertaken to identify the persistent barriers to social housing delivery and the opportunities to increase pace and scale. Building on the recent work and recommendations of the Affordable Housing Taskforce, this session will explore the government's plans to tackle the most stubborn barriers facing the sector, and explore how to go further to expedite delivery.

2. Caredig: Embedding Kindness through the TrACE-Informed Framework

📍Garden 2

• Stephen Evans, Sarah Turner and Ceri Wilmott
  
  

This session explores Caredig’s journey in embedding the Trauma and ACE (TrACE) Informed framework as a core strategic pillar. We will examine how a 'Kindness' mandate, supported by a 360 Psychological Model, has transformed their approach and what they plan to do next.

3. Better outcomes for heat pumps in social housing: The Bristol experience

📍Wedgewood

• Max Woollard, NESTA

Supporting tenants on the transition to low-carbon heating means making sure their experience is a positive one. How can you ensure tenants engage with the decarbonisation process, and are satisfied with the outcomes, and that assets are managed effectively?

Nesta and Bristol City Council worked in partnership to understand and improve the performance of heat pumps in Bristol’s housing stock. Their innovative work on assessing existing installs and optimising them, as well as interviews with tenants at each step of the way, has produced far-reaching findings.

Find out more about how this real-world learning has resulted in practical insights that inform better installation practice, resident engagement and policy design across the UK.

4. The Cascade: High-Rise Timber Innovation

📍Garden 1

• Grant Prosser (Codi Group) and Neil Phillpott (Langstone Construction Group)
  
  

The Cascade represents a landmark shift in Welsh architecture, challenging the boundaries of sustainable urban development through the use of Cross Laminated Timber.

Join the team behind the project to go 'under the skin', examining the sophisticated engineering and collaborative strategies that have successfully delivered a world-class example of high-density, low-carbon social housing.

4.20pm Panel | Good homes for all: what will it really take?

📍Powys Suite

What does a "good home" actually mean in 2026, and why is it the key to unlocking Wales’ economic and physical health? This panel asks the difficult questions: How can a cross-government strategy actually work on the ground? What do health and wealth look like when they are built into the fabric of our homes? We move beyond the "what" to focus on the "how," exploring the collaborative models that are already working and the barriers we must still break down. Discover what it really takes to lead a unified charge for better homes, better health, and a more resilient Wales.

In conversation with:

• Clare Way, Tai Tarian

• Caroline O'Flaherty, Hugh James

• Adekanye Ifaturoti, Taff Housing

• Amy Bainton, Tai Pawb

5.00pm Closing Reflections from Day 1 - Sian Lloyd

What's on
Friday 3 July

8.45am Wellbeing activity (weather dependent)

8.45am Registration, networking and exhibition viewing

9.40am Welcome and scene setting for day 2  - Sian Lloyd, presenter and journalist

📍Powys Suite

9.50am  Shaping the future of the housing workforce
Seamus Hoyne, Technological University of the Shannon

📍Powys Suite

Traditional, multi-year college courses cannot be the only tool to upskill our construction workforce at the speed required to meet WHQS 2023 targets. In this session, Seamus Hoyne, coordinator of the EU’s flagship BUILD UP Skills programme in Ireland and the European Build Up Skills United (BUSUnited) initiative, maps out how European training blueprints are being deployed on the ground. Discover how Ireland successfully adapted this EU framework through DASBE (Digital Academy for the Sustainable Built Environment) - pivoting away from rigid, long-term qualifications toward heavily subsidised, bite-sized micro-credentials designed for busy tradespeople.

10.20am Panel session | How do we build the workforce we need to deliver our shared priorities?

📍Powys Suite

The 2026 skills revolution cannot be won by housing associations acting in isolation. How can we use our collective power in Wales to create a stable, resilient construction workforce? We bring together leaders from development, education, and the frontline to discuss the creation of regional skills hubs and the transition to a digital-first construction culture.

In conversation with:

• Ifan Glyn, Federation of Master Builders

• Samantha Howells, Codi Group

• Matt Dicks, CIH Cymru

12.00pm Workshops

1. New homelessness legislation in Wales: learning from best practice

📍Wedgewood

• Neil Morland, Consultant
  
  

In this session we will reflect on how housing associations can learn from and scale up best practice on partnership working to make the new homelessness legislation a success.

2. Beyond the crisis: Integrating community-led housing into Wales's housing and homelessness system

📍Garden 2

• Joy Kent (Consultant) and Casey Edwards (Cwmpas)

Integrating community-led housing into our national framework offers a truly transformative solution to solving the housing crisis. By directly involving local people in the design and management of their own neighbourhoods, community-led housing creates deeply affordable, sustainable homes tailored to specific community needs.  

This workshop marks the official launch of a vital new report exploring how we can move beyond short-term crisis management to build long-term community resilience.  

Delivered by renowned sector expert Joy Kent alongside Casey Edwards from Cwmpas, this session provides an honest, collaborative space to explore how we can collectively scale these community-first models.

3. Briefing zone: Delivering the new fire safety regime

📍Powys Suite

• Steve Pomeroy (Welsh Government) and Paul Slade (SWFRS)

The passing of the Building Safety (Wales) Bill has established a regulatory framework that goes further than any other in the UK. This session brings together the Welsh Government and the South Wales Fire Rescue Service to discuss the delivery of the new fire safety regime.

4. Improving homes and communities: Lessons from the Netherlands

📍Garden 1

• Elly Lock (Community Housing Cymru), Serena Jones (Beacon Cymru) and Julian Ransom (iON Consultants)

Fresh from a study tour to The Hague, the speakers in this session will reflect on what lessons can be learnt from international partners to drive regeneration and sustainable investment. The session will look at how partnerships in the Netherlands are addressing damp and mould, investing in sustainable energy, retrofitting existing homes, and engaging meaningfully with residents. Discover how international collaboration can spark fresh solutions for our own retrofitting and climate challenges.

12.50pm Joint keynote | Stronger Together: The Radical Power of Partnership
Catherine Love (Bron Afon), Dave Leech (Torfaen County Borough Council) and Amy McNaughton (Aneurin Bevan University Health Board)

📍Powys Suite

In 2026, the traditional top-down model of service delivery is no longer sustainable. Join this session to explore the 'Torfaen Deal' a landmark social contract that reimagines the relationship between the council, housing providers, and residents.

As Wales’ first Marmot Council, Torfaen has moved beyond strategy to prove that health and resilience are created in communities, not hospitals. This session provides a masterclass in shifting power, tackling the root causes of inequality, and why radical partnership is the only way to deliver lasting social value in a challenging economy.

1.20pm End of Day 2 - Chair’s reflections
📍Powys Suite