Refreshments, exhibition viewing and networking.
This will take place in the Castle Suite.
This session will take place in the Morgannwg Suite.
Welcome to TAI 2025
09:50
Matthew Dicks
|National director, Chartered Institute of Housing Cymru
Matt took his current role armed with a breadth of knowledge of the Welsh policy landscape following 17 years of working as a senior communicator at the heart of Welsh civic and political life. He joined the National Assembly for Wales (now Welsh parliament) as its head of news. He transformed the Welsh Parliament’s media operation into the modern multi-platform, multi-media function you see today.
This session will take place in the Morgannwg Suite.
Absorb the latest housing sector and market statistics that will tell you the state of play. In this session, Savills will provide an update on the housing market and how this impacts the wider economy across the UK.
This session will take place in the Morgannwg Suite.
Take a break and explore the exhibition.
This session will provide an overview of the proposed building safety legislation in Wales together with what organisations are doing to prepare for the changes and potential barriers and opportunities of future implementation.
As the use of AI increases what does that mean for the cyber security of our organisations. Does it provide more challenges than opportunities.
UK government has announced a multi-year rent settlement for England where rent can be increased by CPI+1 per cent. This session will look at the plans for a rent settlement in Wales and whether we can move away from the link to CPI.
Grab some lunch, network with fellow professionals and take a look around the exhibition.
Following the huge success of last year’s open mic session at TAI, we are going to repeat the format. It’s a great way to share practice form the frontline with housing professionals from across tenure and organisations providing their perspective on the topic.
This year we’re going to focus on tenant participation. What can we learn from each other’s experience? What works well, what not so well? This is your opportunity to share your thoughts whilst at the same time learning from fellow housing professionals.
This session will consider the likely changes to homelessness legislation in Wales, the current levels of homelessness in Wales and how housing professionals in Wales are working together to endure that homelessness in Wales can be rare, brief and non-repeated.
It is a common rhetoric that if we want to meet net zero, we need to address the shortage of skills within the construction sector. This session will provide an overview of the work Welsh government is undertaking to ensure we have the skills we needed. We will also hear from organisations who are delivering projects that upskill and train individuals who want to work in construction. Including an innovative project in Newport that works with formerly homeless individuals to provide them with the skills to needed to secure employment.
As the use of temporary accommodation continue to rise in Wales so does the cost to local authorities in providing this accommodation due in part to a reliance on the private sector to provide this accommodation. We will need to continue to use temporary accommodation in the short to medium term so how can we do this is a finically sustainable way?
Take a break and a look round the exhibition.
This will take place in the Castle Suite.
This will take place at Hensol Castle.
Refreshments, exhibition viewing and networking.
This will take place in the Morgannwg Suite.
Welcome to conference day two
09:30
Gavin Smart
|Chief executive, Chartered Institute of Housing
Gavin Smart CIHCM is chief executive at the Chartered Institute of Housing. Prior to joining CIH, Gavin was assistant director of research and futures at the National Housing Federation from 2004 to 2012. Born in Cardiff, Gavin studied public administration at the Polytechnic of Wales and then gained an MSc in sociology at the University of Bristol, where he worked as a research associate on projects for the Department of the Environment, Housing Corporation, Scottish Office and local authorities.
Take a break and a look around the exhibition.
This session will look at what we mean by housing adequacy and how can we achieve it. We will also consider what we need to consider in meeting housing adequacy for older people and people living with a disability.
We can all sign up to the principle of improving the standard of our existing homes. But the standards outlined in WHQS 2023 are widely regarded as a tough ask within the timeframe set out, and the current funding landscape.
So, how’s it going for you and the organisations? Have you got the right people and processes in place to develop a strategy, and deliver the standard. This session will hear the thoughts from both government and sector actors, as well as hearing about the new WHQS rule on response times around disrepair.
Is 20,000 beyond our reach?
We heard in our latest sector snapshot that planning delays, a lack of land, a lack of skills and a lack of financial investment are significant barriers to the development of affordable homes. In this session we will hear from experts in the development sector on how these barriers can be overcome and what the opportunities are for increasing development in Wales.
Grab some lunch, network with fellow professionals and take a look round the exhibition.
This session will take place in the Morgannwg Suite.
