The NHF’s Customer Experience and Resident Engagement Conference will return in 2026.

This conference is where we work with other providers and residents to improve service delivery in social housing. Years of challenge, progress in social housing and work like the Better Social Housing Review have laid the foundations of this event. If you work in customer experience, housing management, resident engagement or are a resident yourself, this event is for you.

This event ran for the first time in 2024 in the context of the Better Social Housing Review and significant change for our sector. It grew massively in 2025. No matter where you are on your journey with residents, this conference will ensure you take the right next step.

What happened at our 2025 conference?

On Tuesday 25 February, we came together for the second year of our Customer Experience and Resident Engagement Conference. We were pleased to see an increase in the number of housing association staff and residents who could attend.

The day opened with a panel discussion on consumer regulation. Our speakers Karen Doran, The Regulator of Social Housing and John Delahunty, Innisfree shared their thoughts and reflections on the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower almost 8 years ago. Karen said that providers should not see pro-active regulation as a set of instructions. It is there to test the culture of a provider. John agreed and added that this early period of consumer regulation also broadly shows where the sector must improve.

NHF Chief Executive, Kate Henderson was then joined on stage by Sonji Nurse, who is both a resident and board member at Hexagon Housing. Sonji spoke about the new 360-review process at Hexagon, as a way of getting residents, resident board members and staff to provide internal scrutiny of the organisation.

We then split off into our breakout sessions. Delegates explored topics like the use of data, role of housing officers and maximising feedback from complaints. We were also delighted with the great turnout for the Tenant Advisory Panel’s (TAP) session on effective consultation with residents.

After our networking lunch, we entered breakout sessions on the Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs), a neighbourhood management case study and more. Alistair Smyth, the NHF’s Director of Research and Policy, spoke about the outstanding issues with consumer regulation.

Finally, we had two more sessions in the main hall. First we explored transforming feedback with Victoria King, Housing Ombudsman Service, Margaret Dodwell, VIVID and Nadhia Khan, Rochdale Boroughwide Housing. This session included some highlights from the Housing Ombudsman’s Spotlight Reports.

We then met Oke Eleazu the Founder and CEO of Elevate Colour. He spoke about customer centricity and why organisations should put those dealing with customers at the top of their organisational tree.

We want to thank everyone who came, gave their attention and shared their experiences at Tuesday’s conference. We especially want to thank Alison Inman for being such an insightful and committed chair. We are very grateful for her support.