CIH Housing Conference - Day Two

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A very different feel to this year's Conference with the absence of the Majestic Hotel; often used as a meeting hub for delegates and exhibitors alike. However, no lack of 'spirited' networking!

Some debate on the budget, which is generally seen as not addressing the issues we want to hear about and some talk of delay tactics. But with that aside and overall, a positive though cautious ...

CIH Housing Conference - Day One

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My initial impressions from this year's CIH Housing Conference in Harrogate are that it seems to be well attended. Talking with the organisers, they tell me that they are happy with the the first day in terms of footfall, with traffic peaking around 11am and thinning as people leave for lunchtime events.

The conversation generally leads to thoughts of today's budget and the implicati...

The real story behind the Housing PFI headlines...

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Housing Private Finance Initiatives have been under the media microscope recently, following a report by the National Audit Office (NAO) that focused on the Government procurement process for Housing PFI. 

United House was involved in the report, with Andrew Mickleburgh, our PFI expert, invited by the NAO to sit on the expert panel for the study and report.

Much of the crit...

A week is a long time in politics ...

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They say a week is a long time in politics and there has certainly been a political whirl in the past seven days. I was invited to a reception at the Department of Communities and Local Government  to meet the new Ministerial team – the Secretary of State Eric Pickles, and Ministers Grant Shapps and Greg Clark and Under-Secretary of State Bob Neill and  Under-Secretary of State ...