HJ Housing Week 2026

Hugh James Housing Week returns with a dedicated programme of events, webinars, video conversations and practical legal insight for the housing sector.

This year’s theme: Building for Growth

What does growth mean for housing associations, local authorities, private sector builders and sector partners across Wales and England? This year’s programme explores the people, communities, projects and leadership decisions shaping housing delivery over the next decade, and how the legal landscape supports or challenges those ambitions.

With over 40 years’ experience advising the housing sector, we bring together legal expertise, practical guidance and sector insight on the issues that matter most. Our team works closely with housing organisations across Wales and England to help them navigate risk, unlock opportunities and deliver for the communities they serve.

Whether your organisation is working towards ambitious housing targets or strengthening community cohesion, Housing Week offers an opportunity to consider the conditions needed for sustainable growth.

Explore the full programme below to see what’s happening each day. Sign up for the full week or choose the individual days most relevant to your role to receive the associated digital content and updates.

Days 2 and 3 include private, limited-capacity in-person events, bringing together a varied network of clients and stakeholders. To attend either event, please register your interest through this page. Registering interest does not guarantee a place; our team will contact you directly to confirm attendance.

For senior leaders, HR teams, people managers and anyone with responsibility for workforce planning in the housing sector.

Housing growth depends on more than land, funding and policy. It depends on people: the leaders, managers and teams who carry knowledge through an organisation and turn strategy into delivery.

Day 1 explores how housing providers can build a resilient workforce, prepare future leaders and respond to employment law changes.

The programme includes an in-depth conversation between Louise Price, Head of Employment & HR Services, and Caroline Belasco, Executive Director of People at Beacon Cymru Group. Together, they discuss succession planning, leadership development and organisational change, including what makes someone ready for promotion, emotional intelligence in management and how employers can assess CVs produced using AI.

Amy Carter, Solicitor in our Employment & HR Services team, also provides two concise legal updates. The first examines the new third-party harassment duties, their impact on the housing sector and the steps organisations should take to prepare. The second considers the reduction in the qualifying period for unfair dismissal protection from two years to six months, including the implications for probationary periods, performance expectations and early management action.

Day 1 also includes our AI in social housing white paper, developed following a roundtable led by Louise Price and Harriet Morgan with leaders from across the Welsh housing sector. It explores how housing organisations can realise the potential of AI while protecting trust, fairness and human oversight.

Register now to receive the ‘Growing your workforce sustainably’ session,

For development directors, chief executives, board members, asset leaders, planners, private builders and anyone involved in housing supply, investment or development strategy.

Day 2 features our first in-person event of the week, and one of the standout events in the Housing Week programme. Delivered in collaboration with Savills, the event centres on the launch of Savills’ latest Welsh Housing Market Outlook Report, with their renowned Residential Research team presenting the economic outlook and its direct implications for the Welsh housing market.

The report launch will be followed by a live panel discussion hosted by Caroline O’Flaherty, Partner and head of social housing. Bringing together key decision-makers from across the sector, the panel will explore what the report’s findings mean for real housing projects, the role of Unnos, the new national development body and social housing enabler, and whether delivery can match ambition.

Panellists include Richard Baker from the Welsh Government; Matthew Davies, managing director of Davies Homes and chair of the HBF South Wales Managing Directors Group; and Grant Prosser, Head of Development at Codi Group. Further panellists to be confirmed.

The discussion focuses on evidence-based decision-making in the housing sector, looking at what data from Wales and England can tell us, where the limits of that data lie, and how better evidence can support decisions on strategy, development and long-term investment.

Please note: This is a private, limited-capacity event in-person event, to ensure that a varied network of clients and stakeholders can benefit and contribute to the conversation. If you would like to attend the event, please register your interest using the form on this page. Registration interest does not guarantee a place at the in-person event, and our team will contact you directly to confirm attendance.

Whether or not you attend in person, sign up for Day 2 to access a fireside conversation between Alex Madden, Partner and Head of Planning, and Kathryn Williams, Managing Director at KEW Planning. Drawing on their experience across the sector, Alex and Kathryn examine recent developments in planning law, what they mean in practice and how housing providers, developers and planners can navigate change while continuing to bring forward much-needed homes.

Register you interest in attending our ‘Growing supply with confidence’ event. A member of our team will be in touch to confirm your attendance.

For housing management teams, operational leaders, safeguarding leads, legal teams and senior decision-makers involved in community-facing housing work.

Day 3 is our in-person housing law conference, focused on the legal and practical issues that sit at the centre of community-facing housing work.

Growth is not only measured in the number of homes delivered. It is also measured in the strength, safety and resilience of the communities those homes serve.

The conference includes focused sessions on:

• Mental capacity and supporting and working with tenants with disabilities – with guest speaker Dr Damian Gamble.
• The Crime and Policing Act 2026 and its implications for housing providers.
• Safeguarding and the role housing providers play in recognising and responding to risk.
• Homelessness and the pressures facing landlords, local authorities and communities – with guest speaker Catherine Rowlands from Cornerstone Barristers.

Please note: This is a private, limited-capacity event in-person event, to ensure that a varied network of clients and stakeholders can benefit and contribute to the conversation. If you would like to attend the event, please register your interest using the form on this page. Registration interest does not guarantee a place at the in-person event, and our team will contact you directly to confirm attendance.

Day 3 also includes a fireside conversation between Sara Tomaszewski and Connor Hegarty on mental capacity and its interaction with housing management. They consider the challenges that can arise when ending tenancies, safeguarding vulnerable adults and working with social services and the Court of Protection.

Register you interest in attending our ‘Growing community and cohesion’ event. A member of our team will be in touch to confirm your attendance.

For development teams, asset managers, construction professionals, procurement teams, project leads, private builders and senior leaders responsible for safe delivery and investment in existing stock.

Delivering more homes cannot be separated from building safely, managing construction risk and improving the homes people already live in.

Day 4 brings together construction law, planning insight and practical experience from live projects. The content is designed to help housing providers, builders and project teams understand a changing legal landscape, strengthen their processes and manage risk throughout the delivery of new and existing homes.

The day includes a construction law update hosted by Matthew Stevens, Head of Construction, Infrastructure and Projects, with presentations from Alex Madden, Iwan Jenkins and Alex Howells. The webinar examines building safety liability, the JCT Target Cost Contract and developments in planning law, translating these changes into practical considerations for housing providers, builders and project teams.

This legal overview is complemented by an in-depth conversation between Matthew, Andrew Hole and Alun Lock from Pentan Architects. Together, they explore how the new building safety regime in Wales is changing the way projects are planned and delivered. Andrew and Alun share practical lessons from the pilot schemes they are running and the new processes Pentan has introduced to support compliance, collaboration and safer delivery.

Alex also provides a short insight into the new National Planning Policy Framework and its practical implications for development in England. He considers how the position differs in Wales and what organisations operating across both jurisdictions need to understand when planning future projects.

A further update from Matthew examines the use of retentions and the potential implications of the Commercial Payments Bill for construction projects, including what the proposed changes could mean for payment practices, contractual arrangements and organisations working across construction supply chains.

Register now to receive the ‘Growing safely’ sessions.

For chief executives, board members, executive teams, governance leads and senior decision-makers looking ahead to the next decade of housing delivery.

The final day of Hugh James Housing Week 2026 turns its attention to leadership and the decisions that will shape the future of the sector.

Through conversations with housing leaders and focused legal updates, Day 5 explores how boards and executive teams can pursue growth while responding to changing expectations around governance, cyber risk, procurement and the services provided to tenants.

Harriet Morgan, Partner in Commercial Property, is joined by Auriol Miller, Chief Executive at Cynon Taf, and Jason Wroe, Interim Chief Executive at First Choice Housing Association, for a wide-ranging conversation about how organisational size shapes housing growth. They discuss different approaches to collaboration and governance, and how housing associations can balance development ambitions with local need, tenant priorities and their wider social purpose.

The leadership focus continues with a cyber and data risk update from Tracey Singlehurst-Ward, Partner and Head of Commercial Litigation. Drawing on the issues raised by Farley v Paymaster, Tracey identifies practical lessons for boards overseeing cyber risk, data governance and their organisation’s response when incidents occur.

Harriet also provides a focused legal insight into the Ask and Act duty introduced by the Homelessness and Social Housing Allocation (Wales) Act 2026, explaining the duty and the practical considerations it raises for housing providers.

Alongside these contributions, Liz Fletcher, Head of Procurement, examines what the Commercial Payments Bill could mean for housing providers and their supply chains, including the potential implications for payment practices, supplier relationships and commercial governance.

Together, the Day 5 content offers senior leaders a focused and practical perspective on some of the legal, strategic and operational issues shaping the housing sector.

Register now to receive the ‘Leading growth with confidence’ session.