The Property Institute Annual Conference 2024

A Festival of Networking, New Tech and Increasing Diversity

Author: Sandeep Singh FTPI, Assoc RICS.

I’ve been attending the annual conference of The Property Institute – formerly IRPM and ARMA – for some 18 years, almost without fail. But this year was different. For the first time, I was not attending as a property manager, but a consultant. I set up my own business, The Property People, earlier this year. And attending in this new capacity gave me a subtly different take on the event.

Of course, some things haven’t changed. I was delighted to meet up with my mentor Janie Strange. Janie helped set up the IRPM more than 20 years ago, and later taught me (nearly) everything I know about the business. She’s retired now but remains a highly respected and much-loved figure at the annual conference.

As ever, this year’s conference also featured a great line-up of keynote sessions and speakers. They provided valuable insights on everything from ‘Managing Your Key Business Risk’ to ‘Law Meets Practice - Common and Complex Scenarios’. A special shout out to Tim Galloway from HSE, who made the potentially dry topic of building assessment certificate applications both compelling and relevant for property managers.

There were also breakout sessions on important topics like maximising wellbeing and guidance on lone working for property managers. I know what it can be like to be constantly on-site visits or catching up on paperwork without much opportunity to connect with colleagues. So, any advice on getting the balance right is really helpful. With the nights getting darker, it’s an issue of safety as well as wellbeing. Agents can help by having a clear and easy-to-follow policy in place that prioritises the safety of property managers when they’re out and about on their own.

I was also pleased to see a focus on tech at the conference. Colin Stokes and Tom Shrive from Adiuvo spoke on ‘AI: From Concept to Competitive Advantage’ and explained how this tech is enhancing their out-of-office services. I’m not worried about AI taking over the very human role of property managers. But I am excited about how new tech might improve efficiency by taking some of the unnecessary drudgery out of the job. So, it was also good to see platforms like Fixflo and Ark represented at the conference.

One difference I noticed at this year’s event was a significantly more diverse group of people. I’m well known in the industry not just because of my personality, but also because there aren’t many other people around with a beard and turban like mine. That could be about to change, though. More people from ethnic minorities are coming into the industry and that was definitely reflected at the conference. It was also good to see more women, not just attending but on panels. So it looks like our industry as a whole is becoming much more representative; that said so much work to be done on this.

Maybe the reason I noticed that change is that I approached the conference a bit differently this year. Attending as a property manager, my focus was usually on soaking up new information and thinking about CPD. Well, that and grabbing branded pens, chocolates and other freebies! This time, I was much more focused on networking. As a business owner, I’m always keen to make contacts, and it was good to meet some of the rising stars in the industry.

I also met some colleagues in a similar position to me, offering consultancy services. There’s plenty of work to go round, so I’m not so much worried about the competition as encouraged to find others who share my goal of driving up industry standards. There’s so much we can do to improve the way property managers work and get better results for all landlords, residents and everyone concerned. Events like The Property Institute’s Annual Conference are a great opportunity to get together and compare notes. I can’t wait for next year’s.