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About the series
Four Cities, One Conversation is a series of private conversations run by Bellrock Consulting in partnership with The Housing Forum, the cross-sector membership network for housing and construction. In London, Edinburgh, Manchester and Birmingham, we bring a small group of senior leaders from local authorities, housing associations, government and private development around one table.
Every session is chaired by Alex Notay, Chief Executive of The Housing Forum. Each is held under the Chatham House Rule and not recorded, so people can say what they think. What we learn in one city shapes the conversation in the next.
This page is the home of the series. We'll add what we heard, articles and podcast conversations here as each city takes place.
The one conversation
Each city is part of the same question: how do we build the homes and places we need, and can we afford to run what we build? Every city comes at it through a different door, shaped by its own pressures and by who is in the room.
The thread that ties them together: you can't add well to an estate you can't see. New homes become existing estate the day they're handed over. Unlocking land usually means unlocking land that's already held. And affordable has to mean affordable to keep, not just affordable to build.
It's the same principle behind The Whole Estate, Bellrock Consulting's national campaign: you can't manage what you can't see. [Explore The Whole Estate: link]
The four cities
- London & South East: building safety. Afternoon roundtable, Wednesday 23 September 2026 (held)
- Edinburgh: A different rulebook, the same estate. Dinner, Wednesday 4 November 2026
- Manchester: Unlocking land to build the next phase. Lunch, December 2026 (date to be confirmed)
- Birmingham: Affordable to build, or affordable to keep? Roundtable, December 2026 (date to be confirmed)
London & South East: building safety, beyond fire safety
Afternoon roundtable · Wednesday 23 September 2026 · Bellrock host: Paul O'Connor
We opened the series in London with building safety, framed around the Building Safety Act and the duties of the Building Safety Regulator. The conversation started there and went much further. The themes that came out of the room:
- The Building Safety Regulator and Gateway: what's improving, and what still isn't joined up
- Legislation, unintended consequences and the reality of bringing existing stock up to standard
- Putting residents first and earning their trust
- Why building safety must mean more than fire safety
- Portfolio knowledge: how well organisations really know the buildings they're responsible for
- Using data and technology appropriately, and taking a systems approach to risk
- Skills, capability, competence and capacity across the sector
- Viability, affordability, supply and the long-term view housing needs
Viability and the long-term view set up the questions for the three cities that follow.
Edinburgh: A different rulebook, the same estate
Dinner · Wednesday 4 November 2026 · Bellrock host: Anthony McGoldrick
Scotland faces its own housing emergency under its own rules. Leaders from councils, housing associations, government and development will discuss what it takes to deliver, and keep, the homes and buildings Scotland needs, when the framework differs from England's and many organisations work on both sides of the border.
From housing investment programmes to legacy issues such as RAAC, the focus is on making good long-term decisions about the estates organisations hold and the ones they're building.
The questions on the table:
- Where does Scotland's different rulebook help delivery, and where does it slow it down?
- For organisations working on both sides of the border, what does it take to hold one clear view of an estate under two regimes?
- Which long-term costs of holding and running buildings are underestimated at the point of investment?
Manchester: Unlocking land to build the next phase
Lunch · December 2026, date to be confirmed · Bellrock hosts: David Blakey and Anthony Smith
Greater Manchester has the ambition, the investment and one of the country's most active development markets, yet sites still stall before a spade goes in the ground. Developers, housing providers and public landowners will discuss what it really takes to unlock land and build the next phase of homes.
That means getting sites ready, knowing what's already held, dealing with regulation that changes mid-scheme, and finding the capacity to deliver as well as the money. Our starting point: pace comes from knowing what you hold.
The questions on the table:
- What is the real brake on delivery: land, funding, capacity or confidence?
- How ready is the land that public bodies already hold, and how do we know?
- When regulation changes mid-scheme, what protects the investment case?
Birmingham: Affordable to build, or affordable to keep?
Roundtable · December 2026, date to be confirmed · Bellrock host: Ben Smith
In Birmingham, the question of what gets built comes down to affordability and viability. Housing providers, developers and public bodies will discuss what makes schemes stack up, from Section 106 obligations to the appetite of registered providers.
Underneath sits a longer question: are the homes we can afford to build the ones we can afford to run for decades to come?
The questions on the table:
- What is making schemes unviable right now, and what would change that?
- What are registered providers able and willing to take on, and at what cost to keep?
- Should whole-life cost sit in the appraisal from day one?
Follow the series
After each city we'll publish what we heard here, with articles on the pressures each city faces and podcast conversations about the series as they're released. Nothing is attributed to anyone in the room.
Edinburgh is next, on Wednesday 4 November. When all four conversations are complete, we'll bring what we heard together in one place.
About the partnership
The Housing Forum is the cross-sector membership network for housing and construction. Its Chief Executive, Alex Notay, chairs every conversation in the series.
Bellrock Consulting is the trusted challenger in property: data-led building advisory that helps owners see, manage and plan their whole estate. We're ranked 27th in Building's Top 150 Consultants 2026. Read more
