Planning Futures

Panel: Hannah David - Planning Futures (Chair); Richard Tice MP; Cllr Chris Eynon - Leader, Sunderland City Council; Kate Henderson - CEO, National Housing Federation; Andrew Taylor - Group Planning Director, Vistry Group. 

Reform UK saw substantial gains in the 2026 local elections in England – winning almost 1,500 council seats and gaining control of 14 local councils.

This significant victory has come at a time when there is a widely acknowledged housing crisis in England and housing delivery rates have remained sluggish across many parts of the country.

As the party moves from campaigning to governing, this panel event will explore how a new generation of Reform UK Councillors can contribute to increasing the delivery of housing of all tenures in the areas that they represent.

The event will bring together key political representatives alongside industry experts to outline the challenges that new Councillors will face, and offer a perspective on how they can help to boost housing and deliver new and improved places for their residents to live, to work and to play.

Panel: Hannah David - Planning Futures (Chair); Gideon Amos MP ; Cllr Sarah Conboy - Leader, Huntingdonshire District Council; Andrew Taylor - Group Planning Director, Vistry Group + TBC

Recent elections, both at local and national level, have shown that the Liberal Democrats continue to be a successful electoral force throughout many parts of the country.

As we approach the mid-point of the current parliament, many of the Party’s MPs and Councillors will be considering how to capitalise on recent gains and will be thinking about their pitch to the electorate going forward.

With an ongoing housing crisis across the UK, the party will need to develop planning and housing policies that help to meet the needs of the communities that it represents from St. Ives to Shetland.

This event will bring together leading MPs and Councillors, in edition to industry experts, to discuss how the Liberal Democrats – in parliament and in local authorties across the UK – can help to deliver new, high-quality, housing at scale.

Panel: Hannah David - Planning Futures (Chair); Rachel Fisher – CEO, RTPI; Mark Washer - CEO, Sovereign Network Group (SNG); Andrew Taylor - Group Planning Director, Vistry Group + TBC

As the party of government, the Labour Party is currently delivering a major programme of planning reform.

However, as we reach the middle year of the current parliament, ministers are looking to both public and private sector stakeholders to start implementing change at the coalface. In short, the time has come to turn planning policy into housing delivery.

At a challenging time for the housebuilding industry, this event will bring together key political representatives alongside industry experts to explore how government can pull together with local authorities and private sector firms to increase the output of new homes.

Panel: Hannah David - Planning Futures (Chair); Sir James Cleverly MP - Shadow SoS for Housing, Communities and Local Government; Fiona Fletcher-Smith; CEO L & Q; Rachel Fisher - CEO, RTPI; Dan Swords - Executive Leader, Harlow Council; Andrew Taylor - Group Planning Director, Vistry Group.

Following a historic loss for the Conservative Party at the 2024 general election, as we approach the middle year of the current parliament, the party is exploring how it can restore its fortunes – both in national government and in local government.

As a new generation of Conservative politicians sketch out their vision for the future of their party, our panel event at this year’s Conservative Party Conference will explore the role that they can play in driving much needed housing development across the
country.

Bringing together key industry experts alongside leading Conservative Councillors and MPs, this event will debate how the Conservative party can get its offer on the development of new housing right – both at the local and national levels.