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Tuesday, 21st April 2026
What is it?
Empty to Essentials is a one-day summit focused on one of Wales’ most pressing housing challenges: turning empty and under-used buildings back into safe, affordable homes.
Designed for tenants, housing staff, and community partners, this series goes beyond policy talk.
It explores examples from England and Ireland as inspiration for routes to reuse while ensuring that tenant voices and lived experience remain central to decisions about place, design, and long-term community benefit.
Throughout the day, we will explore how empty buildings can be transformed into homes that are fit for purpose, affordable to live in, and rooted in local needs.
Who should attend?
Empty to Essentials is for everyone involved in housing and community regeneration:
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Tenants and resident groups
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Housing association staff and board members
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Local authorities
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Community organisations and developers
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Contractors and regeneration partners
Whether you are shaping strategy, delivering projects, or living with the outcomes, there will be something here for you.
Why should I attend?
If you have an interest in:
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Empty homes and regeneration
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Affordable housing supply
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Community ownership and placemaking
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Tenant voice and influence
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Sustainable reuse of existing buildings
…then this series is for you.
We are TPAS Cymru. We want you on the journey, not intimidated by it.
With a LOW-COST GROUP PASS option, organisations can involve tenants, staff, and board members - not just a select few.
Programme Overview
10:00am – 10:10am | Welcome and Introduction
An overview of the day, setting the context and outlining key themes.
Session 1 | 10:10am – 11:05am
Regenerating derelict buildings: Examples from beyond Wales
This session looks at how empty and derelict buildings are being brought back into use beyond Wales and what we can learn from those experiences.
We will hear from two inspiring campaigns:
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Don’t Waste Buildings, which focuses on protecting and reusing existing buildings rather than letting them fall into disrepair
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Derelict Ireland, which highlights the real impact of long-term empty properties on communities and the opportunities to bring them back to life.
These examples will show how empty buildings can become homes again when people, policy, and communities work together.
Speakers include:
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Jude Sherry & Frank O’Connor - Derelict Ireland
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Tania Jennings – Don't Waste Buildings
11:05am, – 11:15am | Break
Session 2 | 11:15am – 12:00pm
Disposals: the good, the bad, and their place in the future
Disposals continue to be one of the most talked about and debated issues in Welsh housing. With rising costs, ageing stock, and pressure to invest in existing homes, many landlords are facing difficult decisions.
This session creates space for an open and balanced conversation about when disposals are considered, what the risks and benefits can be, and how these decisions affect tenants, communities, and long-term housing supply.
Speakers include:
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Stuart Epps, Executive Director (Finance, Assets and Development), Wales & West Housing
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Wendy Dearden, Senior Policy and Research Officer - Bevan Foundation
12:00pm– 12:45pm | Lunch break
Session 3 | 12:45 – 13:40
Brick by brick: How Welsh landlords are regenerating our communities
This session showcases real examples of regeneration activity led by Welsh landlords; alongside the challenges and opportunities they face when delivering projects on the ground.
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Practical regeneration examples
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Reflections from landlords and partners
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Audience Q&A
Speakers include:
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Liz Gibbons, Partner - Acuity Law
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Tom Jacon, Head of Land & Partnerships - Beacon Cymru
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Easy Living (SPEAKER TO BE CONFIRMED)
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Casey Edwards, Community-led Housing Programme Manager, Cwmpas
Session 4 | 13:40pm – 14:20pm
TACP funding: Insights and practical applications
An accessible overview of TACP funding focusing on how funding works in practice and how it can support regeneration and improvement programmes.
Speakers include:
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Jonathan Jones, Head of Transitional Accommodation - Welsh Government
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James Griffiths, Managing Director - Development & Regeneration, Valleys 2 Coast
Summary of key takeaways, reflections from the day, and next steps.
14:20pm – 14:30pm | Closing Remarks
Booking & Cost Details
Group Pass – £399 + VAT
Unlimited access for your staff, tenants, board members, or stakeholders to attend any or all the session throughout the day.
Important:
Everyone using the group pass must still register individually via the Zoom link and select the Group Pass option, including your organisation name. This ensures access and session updates.
Individual Prices (if not purchasing the group pass)
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Housing staff: £150 + VAT
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Tenants: £80 + VAT
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Non-members: £220 + VAT
Please note – once you have booked using this link you will receive an email confirmation with the joining link direct from Zoom ([email protected]) The joining link does not come from a TPAS Cymru email address so you may need to check your spam/junk email boxes. The email with joining link also gives you the opportunity to save the details to an electronic calendar, such as Outlook
Cancellation Policy
All cancellations for paid events must be made by email to [email protected] If you cancel your place less than 2 working days before the online event you will incur the full cost.
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If you are unable to attend, you can send a substitute delegate at no extra cost. All substitute delegates must be notified to [email protected]
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If you fail to attend a paid, online sessions, you will be charged the full cost of attendance.
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Once we have received your cancellation, we will forward you a confirmation of your cancellation.
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For our paid events please note, one paid registration may only be used by one person, and the sharing of joining links /screens is prohibited. Therefore, each person attending this event must have a separate registration.
TPAS Cymru Right to Cancel
We aim to make sure that all online events run as planned. However, there may be times when, due to circumstances beyond our control, we have to cancel an event. Should this be the case we will give you as much notice as possible. If you have already paid for the cancelled event we will give you a full refund. Should we run the event again, we will give you priority
Event Information
Event Title
Empty to Essentials: Bringing empty buildings back into use
Date
Tuesday 21 April 2026, 10:00 - 14:30
Booking Available Until
Monday 20 April 2026
Early Bird Booking Available Until
Event Type
Conference
Eligible for
All
Cost
Members: £0.00+ VAT
Non-Members: £0.00 + VAT
Speaker
Guest Speaker
Venue Information
Venue Name
Online
Venue Address
