Paul Broadhead, Head of Housing and Mortgage Policy, Building Societies Association

Lucian Cook, Head of UK Residential Research, Savills  

The mortgage market is entering a period of significant change. Affordability pressures, increasing reliance on family wealth, demographic shifts, evolving customer expectations and Government ambitions for growth are reshaping the outlook for lenders, intermediaries and consumers alike.

In this session, leading housing economist Lucian Cook, Head of UK Residential Research at Savills, will explore the key economic, housing and demographic trends that are likely to shape the market over the coming years. Drawing on the latest data and market intelligence, he will examine the outlook for house prices, mortgage demand, first-time buyers, housing supply and regional growth, providing practical insights into the opportunities and challenges facing the sector.

Sarah McKenzie, Head of Retail Banking Market Analysis & Policy, Financial Conduct Authority

With regulatory reforms continuing to take shape, the focus is increasingly shifting to implementation. This session will examine the key developments in the mortgage market and consider how businesses can respond to an evolving regulatory landscape while identifying opportunities for innovation. 

Alex Devereux, Senior Financial Services Specialist, Surviving Economic Abuse (SEA) 
Sarah Johnson, Head of Lending, Hinckley & Rugby Building Society
Natalie Ellis, Managing Director - Licensed Mortgage Broker, Steel City Mortgages

Economic abuse can leave lasting financial scars that affect a person's ability to access, manage and sustain a mortgage. This thought-provoking session will combine lived experience, practical insight and industry expertise to examine whether the sector is doing enough, and what more lenders and brokers can do to support victim-survivors as they rebuild their lives.

Tessa Norman, Policy Manager, Building Societies Association
Simon Farrell-Roberts, Head of Lending, Skipton Building Society
Chris Williams, Strategy and Transformation Partner, Novus Strategy

Property data sits at the heart of every mortgage transaction, yet too often it remains fragmented, duplicated and difficult to access. The result is friction for customers, inefficiency for lenders and an increased risk of delays, wasted costs, fraud and failed transactions.
 
Smart Property Data is no longer a future ambition; it is here today. Across government, industry and technology providers, significant progress is already being made to create a more connected property ecosystem. But what does this mean for lenders in practice?
 
Bringing together insights from Skipton Building Society and Novus Strategy, this session will explore how richer, trusted and interoperable property data can improve underwriting, strengthen risk assessment, accelerate decision-making and enhance customer outcomes. The panel will examine the strategic choices lenders need to make today.
 
The discussion will also consider how customer expectations are changing, where competitive advantage may emerge, and what mutual lenders should be doing now to prepare for an increasingly data-enabled mortgage market.

Iain Mackie, Founder & CEO, Malted AI
Chris Hunter, Chief Operations Officer, Scottish Building Society
Rebecca Fitzgerald, Director of Data and AI, Yorkshire Building Society

This session will explore the art of the possible with AI for building societies, combining a technical overview with real-world examples and discussion.  

Iain Mackie, CEO of Malted AI, will cover Large Language Models (LLMs) vs Small Language Models (SLMs), how the technology is evolving, and why specialised models are increasingly relevant in regulated financial services, including Malted’s work with the FCA demonstrating significantly 70x lower cost and 3x higher accuracy on FS tasks.  

We’ll explore building society and regulatory trends. From Copilot and agents to Consumer Duty, customer intelligence and operational efficiency - and where AI can have the greatest impact.  

We will then bring together insights from two building societies on their experiences with AI:  

Chris Hunter, COO of Scottish Building Society (SBS), will discuss SBS's AI journey with Malted: moving from fragmented data to cross-channel customer and broker insights, and importantly, the process and cultural change required to turn those insights into action.  

Rebecca Fitzgerald, Director of Data and AI at Yorkshire Building Society (YBS), will share the journey YBS has been on in their AI implementation, their insights and learnings.  

Finally, we’ll look at what comes next: real-time support, personalisation and cross-sell - and discuss what building societies should build, buy or potentially develop collaboratively.  

The session will be interactive throughout, using practical examples and SBS and YBS’s journeys to drive discussion. 

Amy Norman, Director of Energy, Climate & Environment, Public First 
Laura Magezi, Policy Manager, Building Societies Association

As the impacts of climate change become more visible, lenders are facing growing questions about the resilience of the UK's housing stock and the long-term implications for mortgage lending. From flooding and overheating to insurance availability, retrofit and evolving regulation, this session will examine the key risks facing the housing market and explore what lenders, government and the wider industry can do to prepare for a changing climate.

Wrap up the day with informal drinks and networking, a great chance to relax, reconnect with peers, and continue the conversation.

(* Programme subject to change)