RESI 08 - Riding the rollercoaster

Economist Roger Bootle, Homes & Communities Agency chief executive Sir Bob Kerslake and Berkeley Homes’ forthright MD Tony Pidgley (pictured right at front) are headline speakers on the first morning.

 “Many PW readers haven’t seen a market like this before. We think RESI 08 – which uniquely brings together the commercial and residential sides of the industry – is one of the few places where you can hear what the market thinks and learn what it is going on out there. And life does go on. You’ve got to find your next deal,” Property Week editor Giles Barrie told News on the Block.

“And kick-starting the housing market is even more of crucial political issue for Gordon Brown than when he inherited power last year. He’s got to get it right for the housing market or the Government will be seen as even more of a dead duck.”

Key events include a presentation from R Scot Sellers, chairman and chief executive of Archstone-Smith, the largest private residential landlord in the US. Also a panel including Grant Bovey of Imagine Homes, Bruce Ritchie of Residential Lane and Darryl Flay of Oracle will debate the merits of residential as an investment medium in the UK.

There’ll be a chance to meet the property press, including Peter Conradi, editor of Home, the Sunday Times’ property supplement and the fearsome Evening Standard property and planning correspondent Mira Bar-Hillel, recently interviewed for the deputy mayor of housing job in London. Barnsley-based freelancer Jayne Dowle of The Times’ Bricks & Mortar and Marsya Lennox of the Birmingham Post will provide a regional viewpoint.

An exhibition of this year’s 60th anniversary Housing Design Awards will be on show and a Grand Finale panel will debate how the resi’ market can be kickstarted back to life. Finally, you can meet the team from News on the Block during your stay.

See www.resi08.com for further details.