We are pleased to announce that Joseph Donohue, Strategic Lead for Homelessness and Migration at the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, has been confirmed as the final speaker for our upcoming Conference in May.
Joe leads the Homelessness and Migration team at the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, where he has worked since 2021. Prior to this, he held a range of roles across supported and social housing, bringing extensive frontline and strategic experience to his current position. Over the past two years, Joe has played a key role in developing a comprehensive regional programme to respond to the growing temporary accommodation emergency across Greater Manchester, including investment to bring empty homes back into use for families currently living in unsuitable temporary accommodation.
Session: Pretty Vacant: Regional Approaches to Empty Homes in Greater Manchester
In his session, Joe will explore the scale of the temporary accommodation challenge in Greater Manchester, where more than 6,000 households, including around 8,000 children, are currently living in temporary accommodation. At the same time, there are twice as many properties sitting empty for six months or longer, highlighting a significant opportunity to address housing pressures through better use of existing homes.
Joe will present the Greater Manchester case study, outlining how local authorities are working collaboratively with regional investment to establish well-resourced empty homes functions across each borough. His session will also examine the potential for joint approaches, share lessons learned, and explore how other mayoral strategic authorities could adopt similar models in their own areas.
As our final confirmed speaker, Joe’s session promises to provide practical insight, strategic thinking, and valuable learning for anyone working to tackle housing shortages and make better use of empty homes.
We look forward to welcoming Joe to the Conference in May and completing an exciting and insightful programme of speakers.
EHN Conference 2026: Limited Delegate Places Available!
Speakers and Sessions
The full line up of speakers, sessions and their content can be viewed on our dedicated Conference page here.
We are also delighted to again offer our 1-2-1 surgery sessions on your CPO, Enforced Sale and succession and dispute cases on the day, where you will be able to discuss your case specifics with legal experts in conjunction with our partners at NPLaw, Bevan Brittan LLP and Taylor Emmet.
Delegate Rates
With delegate prices starting from £95 for not-for-profit and charitable organisations, our Corporate Delegate Rate (£150) includes refreshments, a two-course hot buffet lunch, and the opportunity to network with like-minded colleagues working in the field of empty homes. Our Corporate Members also benefit from our discounted delegate rate (£105) for any additional delegate places booked.
As a subscriber member of the Empty Homes Network, it has never been easier to upgrade your membership level and take advantage of our fantastic delegate rates, as well as increasing your access to all of our information resources online.
Booking Form
Our booking form can be found on our dedicated Conference webpage here, and bookings are now being taken. All you need to do to secure your place at the event, is complete the booking form with all of the required information, and send to [email protected]
