Well, I’ve just about recovered from another brilliant NFTMO Annual Conference - and yes, I still haven’t figured out (or is that refuse to admit) how many years I’ve been coming to these; some of you might have met my colleague, Shauntelle Murphy, who bravely manned our stand and guarded the pic’n’mix in the exhibition hall. Well, let’s just say I might have been working with TMOs since before Shauntelle was out of primary school!

This year’s conference was back at the Crowne Plaza in Stratford-upon-Avon, and was packed with energy, insight, and more than a few laughs - especially when it came to setting up the Anthony Collins exhibition banner, which was so enormous it required scaffolding, a construction crew, and possibly a degree in structural engineering. Anyone with video footage of Daphne and me trying to assemble it on Friday night could have won themselves £250 from ‘You’ve Been Framed’! (Next year, I’m bringing a crane.)

Sessions that sparked conversations

We were proud to have our team contribute to the programme:

• Liam Fitzgerald and Rashid Sacranie delivered a sharp and practical session on Management Agreement Disputes, helping TMOs navigate those tricky moments when things don’t go quite to plan. If you weren’t able to make it to their session, check out their blog post here where they share their key insights and top tips coming out of the session.
• Elsewhere, Lorna Kenyon-Pain and Lizzie Massey (whose session was so engaging, they had to go for a lie-down so they weren’t available for the group photo!) tackled the ever-important topic of Building Safety and Management, offering clarity on compliance and practical steps for TMOs to stay ahead of the curve. Again, if you found yourself drawn to another one of the brilliant sessions at the same time, you can find their blog post with the top tips here.
• In addition to my slot in the plenary session (where I introduced the upcoming TMO Model Rules - more on that below), I also dusted off my old employment law textbooks and took a deep dive into the new Employment Rights Bill (or more accurately the fabulous Libby Hubbard briefed me on everything we currently know). We explored the generational changes looming, including potential changes to ‘day one rights’, zero hours contracts, and what all this could mean for TMOs. 

Key takeaways from the conference

There was a lot to take in, but in addition to the key sessions referred to above, a few things really stood out:

• Representatives from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and Richard Blakeway, the Housing Ombudsman (HO), led sessions on Friday afternoon. It was great to hear direct from MHCLG how TMOs fit into the national conversation on housing standards, and the intended phases of changes looming under Awaabs Law. Really good insights, challenges and lessons learned from the HO on how this works for TMOs and their relationship with landlords.
• There were also powerful sessions on Awaab’s Law, reminding us all of the urgent need for safe, healthy housing and what TMOs need to be aware of. If you missed them, our colleagues have written some excellent blog posts on the topic - click here to read more.
• Kate Dodsworth from the Regulator of Social Housing attended the conference in person on Saturday afternoon with us; she was brilliant and engaging as always, sharing information and answering questions with honest insight, and
• the uniqueness of TMOs was celebrated throughout. TMOS do not just manage homes - they build communities, shape governance, and are the epitome of what tenant-led housing done well can look like. 
• Topped off by the Gala dinner and awards evening to celebrate some fabulous successes was the absolute icing on the cake – so many brilliant applications – judging this year was so difficult, so very well done to the winners. We were honoured to sponsor and present three very well-deserved awards. 

Spotlight: The new Model Rules

Hot off the press? We announced that AC is working closely with NFTMO to develop a brand-new set of Model Rules created specifically for TMOs. These are being carefully crafted to cover all the key issues TMOs face, so no more discovering your rules are silent on a crucial point after the crisis hits.

These rules will be:

• Comprehensive – covering governance, decision-making, compliance, and more.
• Bespoke – designed with real-world TMO challenges in mind.

We’ll be releasing them later this year, so watch this space!

Thank you to everyone who stopped by our stall, made time to say hello and for the time spent catching up with clients so we can hear what is happening and the challenges faced. It’s always a real privilege to be part of the NFTMO community, where the passion is real, the conversations are rich, and the commitment to tenant empowerment is second to none. A special thanks goes to Nick, Lee, Tim, Daphne and all the team at NFTMO for putting on such a great conference and creating a space that is informative as it is uplifting. 

We look forward to seeing you all again next year, when I will be an expert with that banner and will have more pic’n’mix or maybe even a doughnut wall! 

In the meantime, feel free to keep up to date with all our webinars, events and updates targeted at TMOs. Click here to subscribe. 

And if you want to reach out to any of our team about the topics we discussed (or any queries you raised or wanted to raise with them on the day), please do feel free to do so. 

Already looking forward to next year…