Our History

The Housing Forum was established in 1999 as a specific recommendation in Sir John Egan’s 1998 report ‘Rethinking Construction’ to drive forward change, improvement and best practice with focus on the housing sector. The Housing Forum was assisted in its foundation by the then Minister for Housing and Planning, Nick Raynsford M.P and has enjoyed the support of successive Ministers and Government bodies.

The founding Board of The Housing Forum, chaired by Sir Michael Pickard, contained many notable housing industry figures including Anthony Mayer, Tom Dacey, Mike Cohen, Professor David Gann, Ian Perry, Andy Hill, Clive Wilding, Michael Hill, Charlie Adams, Charmaine Young CBE and Nigel Dorling, DETR.

The Housing Forum’s early achievements were a National Demonstration Projects Programme led by Professor David Gann; a Benchmarking Club to track progress against the Egan targets for industry improvements in performance, productivity and profitability; and the introduction of the first national Customer Satisfaction Survey of the major private sector housebuilders.  In addition, cross sector working groups of Housing Forum members produced guidance on Partnering, Supply Chain Involvement, Sustainability, Modern Methods of Construction and the Respect agenda.

The Housing Forum has  continued to promote industry integration, producing Partnering and Supply Chain Integration toolkits for the Housing Corporation, which have improved the pre-qualification process and ensured earlier involvement of manufacturers.  The  now substantial portfolio of Demonstration Projects has showcased innovation in all its guises and the Construction Legacy programme with ConstructionSkills provided important evidence of the improving inclusion of women and the BME communities in employment and training of housing construction and repair.

The Housing Forum’s work on The Customer Driven Strategy formed the basis of the Ministerial Review –The Callcutt Review of Housebuilding Delivery 2007.

The Housing Forum is an independent voice and in 2009 undertook assessment of viability impacts of emerging regulatory standards for the Homes and Communities Agency.

Following an options appraisal of our future direction, The Housing Forum formed a strategic alliance in 2009 with NHBC. This has enabled both organisations to operate separately whilst building collaboration on quality, standards and sustainability in both new and existing housing.

The Housing Forum has continued to produce industry based practical guidance and promote improvement in housing through its series of Working Groups (2009/10 report).

Regular conferences have provided up to date industry knowledge across the sector and Skills Summits, introduced in 2010, have tackled subjects such as “The Homes and Communities Agency’s Core Standards”, “Asset Management Practices for Sustainability” and “Practical Responses to Localism”.

Our new series of regional workshops gives us an ongoing insight into housing market issues as evidenced by the reports of them here.