Late April saw the two-day annual conference of CIH Cymru, held for the first time at the International Conference Centre in Newport, providing the opportunity for a range of policy makers, practitioners, tenants and others to debate housing in Wales. Given the upcoming Senedd election, unsurprisingly much of the focus was on what might be the housing priorities for the next Welsh Government.
Day one began by looking at the political and economic context for housing in Wales. Will Hayward, independent journalist and political commentator, and author of the recent book, “Who Cares about Wales?” (which includes a chapter on housing), looked at what the election outcomes might be, in terms of the political make-up of the new enlarged Welsh Parliament and the leadership of the Welsh Government from May this year, and what this all might mean for housing. Dan Hill, research analyst from Savills, drawing on work from Oxford Economics, set out the economic and housing market outlook for the UK and Wales. Two fascinating presentations (if a little depressing), highlighting the uncertainties in which housing is currently operating. The morning session also included excellent presentations from the three Rising Stars Cymru finalists. Together with the work of the CIH Futures Cymru Board (made up of members of CIH in Wales all under the age of 35) it was truly encouraging to hear the enthusiasm and ideas of the younger generation of housing professionals in Wales.
During the course of the day there was a plenary session examining the gap between Wales’s housing ambitions and reality, This also marked the publication of research by Helen Taylor and Alex McInch (both from Cardiff Metropolitan University) providing evidence of recent experiences of those working in housing in Wales and their perspectives on the impacts of recent (and very significant) legislative and regulatory change on their work. Their report also sets out six “asks” of the next Welsh Government, including the need for greater investment in the Welsh housing workforce.
During the day there were also a number of breakout sessions covering a wide range of topics. These included the updated Welsh Housing Quality Standard (WHQS 2023) the transition to net zero and how organisations are gearing up for the new Welsh homelessness legislation. A second set of workshops considered tenant engagement, the shift towards smaller patch sizes within social housing and the new Building Safety (Wales) legislation, The final session on day one was a powerful and inspiring presentation from Osian Lloyd of his personal journey navigating the care system in Wales, experiencing homelessness and the key turning points and organisations which helped shape his housing pathway.
This year saw the return of a one day Development Seminar option (which I didn’t attend), running in parallel with the main conference programme, looking at how housing development ambitions could be delivered more effectively, the potential of collaborative ventures, exploring innovative funding models and considering whether Wales would benefit from the creation of an arm’s length development body for housing (drawing on the More Homes Scotland approach, although there is still considerable scope and choice in how its power and roles are determined before its launch in April 2027).
The second day of the conference began with a presentation from Julie Haydon, the current CIH President setting out her campaign “Rooted in Resilience”, demonstrating the need in an ever changing and increasingly demanding housing environment to develop a resilient mindset and for organisations to support the well-being of tenants, communities and housing staff. This was complemented by evidence from research undertaken by TPAS Cymru and Samaritans Cymru on suicide prevention. This session was followed by a choice of breakout sessions; on reducing the number of children in temporary accommodation, on energy efficiency targets in WHQS 2023 and on how improving data capture and sharing might enhance housing choices and outcomes for older people in Wales. During the morning there was also the option to undertake innovative social housing simulation training (led by academics from South Wales University) to test how housing practitioners might better understand and respond to a number of real-world challenges in the social housing sector.
The final afternoon of the conference was devoted to three very different plenary sessions. In the first of these Gavin Smart (CIH Chef Executive), Jonathan Morris (CIH Cymru Board Chair) and Lucy Bird (Gower College, Swansea) looked at the new competency and conduct standard being introduced in England, with its increased focus on professionalism, qualifications and skills in housing, and what this might mean for housing in Wales (where it is not currently required by Welsh Government). This was followed by a session on a national housing strategy for Wales (there has not been a new national housing strategy since 2010, though the 2021-2026 Welsh Government had agreed to take forward the development of a new housing and regeneration strategy). The three speakers (Clarissa Corbisiero-Community Housing Cymru, Robin White-Shelter Cymru and Steve Bletsoe- National Residential Landlords Association), while emphasising different priorities, all agreed there was a need for more longer-term thinking in relation to the key challenges in Welsh housing, and to develop a much better understanding of relationships and linkages across the whole housing system in Wales.
The final session was a conversation with former Olympic ski jumper Eddie the Eagle. Whilst his career could not be described as an unfettered success, his story does highlight the importance of determination, staying focused, managing setbacks and perseverance. Sometimes it feels like these are some of the most important qualities for trying to tackle the housing crisis.
Despite all the evidence of the growing and often deep-rooted housing crisis in Wales, and the many challenges to be addressed, there seemed a degree of optimism amongst those attending Tai this year (hopefully, it was more than just the Spring sunshine). There appeared to be a recognition, as Clarissa Corbisiero said in the penultimate session, that the housing sector in Wales needs to be brave and bold in offering new thinking and possible solutions. Incremental change will not cut it. Whilst the conference highlighted the breadth and scale of many of the challenges, and the constraints facing the sector, the mood seemed relatively buoyant. After May 7th there will be a fresh and enlarged Senedd Cymru (and lots of first time Senedd Members) with a new Welsh Government and opportunities for the sector in Wales to influence and shape the future direction of housing in Wales. I certainly found two days of listening to voices from the Welsh housing sector and engaging with them to be both interesting and informative. Hopefully, housing will be at the heart of the work of the next Welsh Government and the sector in the broadest sense will be central to shaping future policy and delivery.
