Building Safety & Existing Stock

A Housing Forum roundtable discussed the Principal Designer role under the Building Safety Act 2022, highlighting challenges in competency assurance and register effectiveness. The event featured input from various industry professionals, addressing concerns about Principal Designer registration, insurance coverage, and the impact on existing buildings.

On 17 September 2024, leaders from across the housing sector met to discuss the latest developments in housing asset management, with a focus on home energy management and the move to 5G technology in homes.

This round table forum highlighted potential gains from active asset management of the existing housing stock drawing on the experiences of local authorities, ALMOs, housing associations, contractors and specialist consultants.

The Forum began with Shelagh Grant covering The Housing Forum’s Manifesto for Housing, in the pre 2024 election period - focusing on our asks in terms of quality, safety, and affordability and compared our asks with the main three political party manifestos. The Housing Forum’s recent policy briefings on Reforming the Right to Buy and Linking Social Rents to Energy Efficiency were also covered.

In June 2024, housing sector experts met at a roundtable organised by BPTW and The Housing Forum to discuss the role of the Principal Designer under the Building Safety Act 2022. This report sets out the main issues discussed.

As the housing sector seems to lurch from crisis to crisis in the sector, a multitude of requirements have become a particular challenge for asset managers: fire safety, quality of workmanship, damp and mould, net-zero carbon and various component programmes.