Why? Because asset managers are grappling with some of the biggest challenges facing both our sector and our society.

Take the cost of living crisis. Households across the country are facing a devastating rise in costs driven largely by soaring energy bills. This is exacerbating poverty and inequality, especially in poorer parts of the country and those on lower incomes, as many social housing residents are. Many social housing residents in supported and sheltered housing are also on heat networks, where energy prices are not capped.

Households struggling to afford to heat their homes need immediate help from government ahead of the winter. But, as the UK has some of the leakiest homes in Europe, improving energy efficiency through retrofit and replacing gas heating with electric heat pumps must be the long-term solution to tackling the energy crisis. This will be a key priority for asset managers in coming years.

Retrofitting existing stock is also crucial if we’re to make progress towards net-zero. Housing associations are already leading the way with this, with more energy efficient homes than other sectors. Asset managers are now grappling with how to bring as much of the sector’s stock as possible up to the energy efficiency standards we’ll need – both to stop fuel poverty and to tackle the even longer-term threat of climate change. The journey to net-zero will require creativity, strategic thinking and collaboration from asset management professionals, development leads and senior leaders, as well as commitment and funding from the government.

And of course, asset management plays a vital role in the sector’s work to ensure all housing association residents can feel safe in their homes, from essential remediation works to the complex work of implementing new building safety regulations. Asset managers, building safety managers and leaders need the very latest information from the government and other stakeholders to keep pressing ahead with this critical work.

But while the cost of living crisis and climate change are critical global issues, an urgent priority for both asset management professionals and leaders lies closer to home. That challenge is the quality of housing association homes – and tackling the issues of poor quality where they exist.

The independent panel on quality set up by the NHF and the CIH will explore this issue and make recommendations on how we can improve. Our sector will then need to respond with an action plan that drives change, and asset management and maintenance will be at the very heart of this agenda.

To drive this change, and to respond to all the national and global challenges we face, asset management must be at its most strategic. Senior leaders and practitioners will need to grasp the new approaches and best practice that will help housing associations deliver for communities in these challenging times.

That’s the focus of our Asset Management and Maintenance Conference on 12-13 October – and that’s why the agenda is packed with topics that would be equally at home in the news headlines. Great asset management has never been more important, and I look forward to exploring its role in our sector’s future with you in Coventry.

Aimed at both asset management specialists and leaders, I know that our conference on 12-13 October will be the perfect place to bring together technical delivery and strategic thinking.

Quality

Decarb

Regulator approach

Energy efficiency and fuel poverty