HOMES UK 2019, talks the Dot Dot Dot team is excited about

This year’s HOMES UK conference is fast approaching. The event kicks off on Wednesday 27th November and runs for two days. With over 350 speakers across seven theatres covering topics from asset management, modern methods of construction and placemaking, there’s a session to meet everyone’s interests.

Several of our employees will be in attendance, so we caught up with them to find out which talks they’re most excited about and this is what they had to say.

Katharine Hibbert, Founder and Director

“I’ve bookmarked a few talks I’m interested in, particularly ‘Together not alone: The opportunities of intergenerational and co-living.’ Life can be lonely for everyone, young and old alike – research by the Campaign to End Loneliness shows that loneliness, living alone and poor social connections are as bad for your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, and more than 9m people in the UK – a fifth of the population – say they are always or often lonely.

Finding new and innovative ways to encourage people to live together can help with social isolation as well as addressing the housing crisis by making the best possible use of homes for those who need them – issues that are a focus for Dot Dot Dot, too. I’m keen to hear the panel’s ideas and advice.

Another session I’ll be attending is ‘Procurement and social value.’ Taking social value into account when making procurement decisions should be a no-brainer – working with businesses that try to make a positive difference through their work as well as delivering an excellent service or product creates better outcomes all round. Working out how to cement this aspect of decision-making in complex procurement processes is always a challenge, though – it will be interesting to hear new ideas and suggestions.”

Peter Brown, Chief Executive

“I’m looking forward to this year’s event especially the talks covering the housing crisis and homelessness. There will be many reasons for the housing crisis and increased homelessness, and therefore solutions will have to be manifold too. It will probably be unlikely that there will be one easy solution to fix the issue. Learning how the housing sector sees the challenge and the potential solutions, or routes to solutions, will be interesting.

I’m also looking forward to meeting with other organisations to chat about Dot Dot Dot’s unique approach to property guardianship. I’ll be around over the two days to chat about how we can convert empty assets from cost centres and security concerns into positive stories that add value to the neighbourhoods where they exist. If you would like to meet at the event, you can book a timeslot with me here.”

Omar Al-Amin, Business Development Manager

“As Dot Dot Dot works with clients when a property, building or site is transitioning from its past use to its future use, I’m interested to learn more from the session on ‘Ethical housing stock disposal – how housing providers and their partners can support and maintain great places for communities’. There is no way of getting around it, there will inevitably be transition and disruption to residents, local people and the neighbourhood. But how can we best minimise the disruption and develop innovative ideas to make the most of places going through transition? During these moments, how can we support and maintain communities?

Collaboration and partnership fits the Dot Dot Dot ethos and model, so I’ll also be attending the talks on partnerships. I’m interested to learn more about what the industry thinks is involved in effective and productive partnership building.”

Keep an eye out for the team at Homes UK and let us know if you’d like to meet up and chat about our unique approach to property guardianship. If you haven’t already got a ticket, they are available here. They’re free for public sector and not-for-profit employees.