The Healthy Homes Hub Winter Ideas Exchange

The Healthy Homes Hub Winter Ideas Exchange is a dynamic, magazine-style event bringing together housing professionals, academics, health leaders, and industry experts to explore the latest innovations and research in creating healthier homes. 

With a mix of thought-provoking discussions, real-world case studies, and fresh insights from across sectors, the event shines a spotlight on best practice and breakthrough ideas at the intersection of housing, health, and sustainability. 

From new approaches to resident engagement and digital health technology, to lessons from academic research and frontline practice, the Winter Ideas Exchange offers a unique space to share knowledge, collaborate, and inspire new solutions. Alongside practical takeaways and opportunities to connect, the day is designed to help reimagine how homes can better support health and wellbeing now and in the future. 

This is an opportunity to: 

• Learn from leading experts and practitioners in the sector 

• Hear real-life experiences on the impact of housing on health and community

• Discover practical solutions to create modern, efficient homes 

• Explore technology-driven innovations shaping the future of housing 

• Network and collaborate with like-minded professionals and organisations 

Agenda 

 10.00: Arrive, coffee and networking 

 10.30: Welcome & Introduction 

Speaker: Jenny Danson 

 10:40 - 11:00: A Tenant’s Voice: The Human Cost of Poor Housing 

Speaker: Becky Blunden 

In this 20-minute session, Becky shares her experience of catastrophic disrepair, homelessness, and being ignored by the systems meant to protect her. Her story reveals the impact on mental and physical health, family life, and dignity — and the extraordinary lengths she went to, even studying law, to fight for justice. 

 A chance to hear directly from a tenant voice and reflect on one question: what would change in your organisation if Becky was your resident? 
 

11.00 - 11.10: Grab drink and move to break outs 

11:10 - 12:10: Choice of sessions 

1. Tackling Damp and Mould Through Minecraft 

Steve Wallin, United Infrastructure 

United Infrastructure has developed a unique educational tool using Minecraft to reimagine how residents and their families engage with issues of damp and mould. Originally piloted with Clarion and now rolling out with Peabody and Harrow, the interactive module takes players on a journey through a home, identifying risks and learning best practice repairs and ventilation techniques. Along the way, children collect “lives” and ultimately defeat the “Mould Kingdom” — making serious housing issues both accessible and memorable. 

This session explores how a social value lens, resident engagement, and creative approaches can break down barriers, spark conversations previously avoided and deliver real proof of learning in an unexpected format. 

2. Linking Mental Health and Economic Inactivity in Social Housing: Evidence from Altair 

Bekah Ryder, Altair   

Social housing tenants are increasingly likely to have a life-limiting disability or illness, creating challenges not only for residents but also for landlords seeking to support suitable and sustainable tenancies. Drawing on Altair’s latest research, Bekah Ryder will explore this trend and what it means for housing providers. 

Following a 25-minute presentation of the findings, the session will open into a facilitated round table discussion. This will give participants the opportunity to reflect on the research, share experiences from across housing, health and support services, and explore practical ways providers can respond. The round table aims to identify both immediate actions and longer-term strategies that could make a real difference to residents’ wellbeing and tenancy sustainability. 

3. Data That Delivers: Turning Asset Insights into Better Homes 

Meagan Broady – Asset & Insight Reporting Manager 

Hayley Hesse – Head of Asset Intelligence  
How do you make data actually change what you do on the ground? In this 60-minute session, Hayley and Meagan share how a data-led asset strategy is transforming decision-making and improving outcomes for residents. From spotting damp and mould risks earlier, to targeting planned works more effectively, and using component-level insights to spend where it truly pays back, they will show what’s possible when data is put to work. 

The session combines real-world examples, interactive discussion, and five practical tips you can take back to your organisation to start making data deliver for better, healthier homes. 

12:10 - 12:20: Move to main room 

12.20 - 1.15: An AWS Perspective on Healthy Homes: The Role of AI in Housing 

Amazon 

AI for Healthy Homes: Unlocking Insights with HousingAI 

Launching in January 2026, HousingAI has been developed for the housing sector, with Aster, Anchor, Clarion, and Hyde working closely to test the tool and provide feedback along the way. Built on a powerful knowledge graph, HousingAI brings together guidance, regulations, research, and best practice into one intelligent assistant designed to help providers make faster, smarter decisions. 

In this special sneak preview, we’ll bring HousingAI to life in the room - showing how it can support everything from policy writing and board papers to compliance checks and resident FAQs. With live interaction, guided questions, and access to a demo site, this session offers the first opportunity to see how AI could transform the way we create healthier homes and give you back the time and resources to do it! 
 

1.15 - 2.00: Lunch - Enjoy networking and refreshments 

2.00 - 3.00: Choice of sessions 
 

1. Beyond Bricks and Mortar: How Communal Living Models Can Strengthen Health, Connection, and Resilience.  

Savannah Fishel 

Savannah Fishel, a Churchill Fellow whose travels across the US and Australia took her into 54 very different intergenerational and communal living communities. Savannah brings stories that challenge how we think about home,  from eco-villages of 300 to small city apartment blocks built to spark connection. She’ll share what these places taught her about tackling loneliness, easing pressure on public services, strengthening wellbeing, and bridging generational divides through everyday “neighbourisms”. If you’re curious about what the UK could learn from these models, and how social and affordable housing might weave connection into the very fabric of place, this is a conversation you won’t want to miss. 

2. Homes & Minds: Mental Health in Every Housing Decision  
Andy Bell, CEO, Centre for Mental Health 

Round Table - With 1 in 3 social housing residents experiencing mental health challenges (vs 1 in 7 in the general population), we’ll focus on how housing providers embed “mental health in all policies”: from arrears support and access for damp and mould works, to retrofit planning and safeguarding, income maximisation and employment support, and tenancy sustainment around hospital admission and discharge. Expect a brief scene-setter, a curated discussion, and a practical close that lands 3–5 sector actions.  

 Takeaway: a one-page Mental Health in All Housing Policies checklist for immediate use across your organisation. 

 3. Latest Research: Test Homes and the Power of Measurement 

Professor David Allinson, Loughborough University 

Session Description: 
What happens when you turn housing into a living laboratory? At Loughborough University, matched-pair test homes are being used to trial and evaluate practical approaches to heating, cooling, shading, ventilation, and smart meter analytics. These unique homes provide a real-world environment to assess new materials, retrofit measures, and smart technologies — helping to separate hype from evidence. 

In this session, Professor David Allinson will share the latest findings from the test homes and discuss why measuring in-use performance is a game-changer for the sector. From uncovering how homes really perform to shaping future retrofit strategies, expect fresh insights, robust data, and practical lessons that housing providers can apply to improve both energy efficiency and resident wellbeing. 

3.00 - 3.15:  Break 

3.15 - 4.15: Making Technology Work for People: Psychology, Housing, and Health 
Dr Dan Bowers, University of South Wales 

Session Description: Technology in housing is coming at scale — but the real question is how we ensure it works for the people who need it most. In this thought-provoking keynote, Dr. Dan Bowers, Head of Psychology at the University of South Wales and leader of the Housing and Health Research Network, will explore the psychology behind technology acceptance and the barriers that can hinder adoption. 

Drawing on his latest research, Dr. Bowers will highlight the crucial role of tenant engagement in successful implementation and share insights into how a holistic, evidence-based approach can ensure smart home technology enhances residents’ well-being rather than creating unintended challenges. This session will provide both inspiration and practical perspective on how the sector can embed technology in ways that are truly people-centred. 

4.15- 5.00: Close and Networking Drinks (sponsored by Zehnder) 

Connect with other attendees to exchange ideas and build relationships.