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Social Housing sector must “look within” to weather changes sweeping the industry
17/11/2011

David Orr, Chief Executive of the National Housing Federation, spoke frankly last Friday about the challenges faced by the housing sector and the impending changes to the regulatory landscape.

He urged social housing providers to “look within” and maximise the potential of internal resources to help assert control over the future of the social housing environment.

Mr Orr said: “This is an exciting time. If we can garner the creativity that exists in our movement, and think creatively about how we respond to the local challenges, then we really do have an opportunity to make a profound difference.”

David Orr was speaking to over 150 delegates from across the UK at the annual Social Housing Conference at Liverpool BT Convention Centre on 11 November.

The conference, in its fifteenth year, is organised by Brabners Chaffe Street and Mitchell Charlesworth and was sponsored by Arena Housing Group and the Harvest Housing Group with additional support from Riverside Housing Group Limited.

Other speakers at the event were Joe Anderson, Leader of Liverpool City Council and Steve Coffey, CEO of Liverpool Mutual Homes. Key themes included the need for robust investment in social housing and the pivotal role the industry must play in helping communities through the current economic climate.

Brian Cronin, Chief Executive of Arena Housing Group jointly chaired the conference with Ian Perry, Chief Executive of Harvest Housing Group. Mr Cronin urged delegates to “rise to the challenge over the next five years by developing new services to meet the needs of the communities we serve, to seek the greatest social impact.”

Alistair Fletcher, Partner at Brabners Chaffe Street and head of one of the largest social housing specialist legal teams in the North West said: “The key speakers were engaging, commenting on key sector areas of regeneration and green energy. This was a thought-provoking event which helped to stimulate wide scale debate on the challenges and opportunities faced by the sector.”

Mitchell Charlesworth Partner and social housing specialist Paul Wainwright said: “This was a great event reflecting the importance of the sector on Merseyside. We had a terrific turnout for what proved to be a highly informative event.”


For further information contact Deborah Ascott-Jones at Brabners Chaffe Street on 0151 600 3000

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