Rent Arrears Digital Conference

Ben Beadle is the Chief Executive of the NRLA, the membership body that represents over 110,000 landlords across England and Wales. A landlord for 20 years, Ben has had a lengthy career in housing holding senior roles at Places for People and TDS and is a familiar face in the sector and in the media.

The Association was founded in 2020 and helps landlords – big or small – navigate the many challenges of the private rented sector, providing first class support, advice, learning resources and services as well as a powerful research and campaigning.

Alistair McIntosh is one of the social housing sector’s most respected and best known personalities.

As founder and chief executive of HQN, he is regarded as one of the foremost advisers on governance and regulation, specialising in VfM and stress testing. His hands on approach sees Alistair leading on all HQN’s in-depth assessment mock exercises and support work, designing and running the popular Iron Grip sessions and chairing/speaking at conferences and events.

Career highlights include: Setting up and running the National Federation of ALMOs, leading the popular consultation on the regulatory standards for housing and developing an approach to VfM that won praise from the housing minister.

A regular contributor to the housing press, Alistair’s columns are known for their humorous, pointed and painfully accurate assessment of the state of social housing

Since its inception, HQN has built up a membership of more than 1,000 housing associations, local authorities and ALMOs across its networks.

Professor Paul Hickman is Co-Investigator at the UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence (CaCHE) and Professor of Housing and Social Policy within the Department of Psychology, Politics and Sociology at Sheffield Hallam University.

In his role at CaCHE, Paul is working within the ‘Wider Drivers’ theme which focuses on housing, poverty, health, education, and employment. Paul is leading a study of the impact of welfare reforms on housing associations. In addition to reviewing the academic evidence base on the subject, the study team has undertaken in-depth interviews with representatives from organisations with a ‘stake’ in the study area, such as the National Housing Federation and lenders, and Chief Executives/ Finance Directors of housing associations. The study’s findings will be published in Summer 2018.

Paul has undertaken research on a range of subjects including the impact of welfare reforms, including Universal Credit, housing benefit, and ‘resilience’ to economic hardship. He has undertaken major research projects for a number of funders including the Economic and Social Research Council, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Department for Work and Pensions and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

Paul is the Research Lead for the Department of Psychology, Politics and Sociology at Sheffield Hallam University and is a Co-Director of the Sheffield Institute for Policy Studies.

Dr Kesia Reeve is a Principal Research Fellow in CRESR where she been a dedicated housing researcher for 25 years. During this time she has managed and delivered around 60 policy oriented housing projects for government departments, charities, local authorities, social landlords and voluntary sector organisations. Kesia’s research focuses on aspects of housing disadvantage, and vulnerable populations who are susceptible to housing problems and deprivation.

Natalie joined the social housing sector in 2021 after a career spanning almost twenty years in customer operations within retail, commercial property and travel. Career highlights include leading the transformation of the customer journey as part of Manchester Airport’s £1bn Transformation programme and delivering the Covid response at Sheffield’s 26 million visitor shopping centre, Meadowhall. With a degree in European Languages and Culture, Natalie is passionate about the science of human behaviour and the power of communication in transforming services for all. Since joining the sector, she has focussed on creating relationship led services to improve customer experiences.

Lily specialises in delivering transformation in customer-facing functions. She moved to social housing from financial services in 2017, bringing experience of successfully improving customer services in a highly competitive and tightly budgeted sector. Lily has led teams and change programmes in UK, EMEA, and Asia.
Lily’s current directorate beings together Southern Housing’s Contact Centre, Arrears collection, Housing support and Service Charge accounting functions. Lily is also responsible for Performance Optimisation, which uses a blend of data insight and coaching support to improve services and value for money for residents.

I have worked in social housing for 11 years, focussed on Income Recovery and Financial Inclusion, for Large Housing Associations and now Thanet District Council. I really enjoy empowering residents and staff in the realm of income recovery and maximisation and using a collaborative approach to find efficient processes and procedures. I came into Thanet Council at the time of transition from the ALMO in 2020 and have loved shaping the new Income Team over the last 4 years.

I am an experienced professional with a strong foundation in Psychology and over 15 years of expertise in working with vulnerable individuals. For the past 5 years, I have specialised in housing and project management, delivering impactful support through my role at Kineara. My work focuses on preventing homelessness by empowering tenants across various housing tenures to sustain their tenancies and achieve stability.

At Kineara, we take a holistic approach to supporting clients, carefully evaluating their unique circumstances to identify needs and provide tailored solutions. The projects I manage are offering practical advice, coordinating referrals to appropriate community and health services, and addressing the underlying challenges that may jeopardise their housing situation.

I am passionate about helping people access housing and have awareness of their rights and responsibilities to be able to make informed decisions about their housing.

Hi my name is Esh Wilson and I stumbled into the world of Social Housing in 2004 after completing my honours degree in Law! My career started as an assistant housing officer and in 2021 I became the Head of Income Management at Magenta Living who are based in the North West.

In 2023, my team won the ‘Team of the year’ award at the northern housing awards and that award was representing all the hard work every income team does in the challenging economical background we face daily.

Fay joined whg group’s executive team in 2017 with 18 years’ housing management experience already under her belt.

She has a diverse portfolio from housing to IT, customer service and health and wellbeing. Fay oversees whg’s ongoing digital transformation programme; an organisational-wide agenda that touches every part of whg’s work.

Fay has championed innovative solutions to longstanding problems, not least rough sleeping and homelessness and tackling health inequalities in partnership with the health sector.

Fay began her career as a housing officer before holding senior positions at several Midlands based providers. She is an expert and empathetic practitioner who puts the customer at the heart of everything she and her teams do.

With a distinguished career spanning over four decades in the social housing sector, Stuart has made significant contributions to the field. He began his journey in 1985 as a Housing Assistant at Hanover Housing, before advancing to the role of Housing Officer at the London Borough of Sutton. Stuart then served as an Area Manager at the Guinness Trust, Home Housing, and Windsor Housing, where he gained a wealth of experience and expertise.  For 15 years, Stuart was the Operations Director at WillowTree Housing in the South West providing social homes across Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset.

In 2022, Stuart joined Shelter as a Strategic Lead, managing operations in the South West. In this role, he continues to drive systemic change in the housing world aiming to improving housing conditions and providing support to those impacted by the housing emergency. Stuart is actively campaigning for social justice and a fairer housing system – one with more social homes, better renters’ rights and a stronger welfare system that supports people through tough times.

Ben Beadle is the Chief Executive of the NRLA, the membership body that represents over 110,000 landlords across England and Wales. A landlord for 20 years, Ben has had a lengthy career in housing holding senior roles at Places for People and TDS and is a familiar face in the sector and in the media.

The Association was founded in 2020 and helps landlords – big or small – navigate the many challenges of the private rented sector, providing first class support, advice, learning resources and services as well as a powerful research and campaigning.