• To encourage, facilitate and promote the co-ordination and sharing of technical information on construction, maintenance, refurbishment, renewal and repair of housing.

• To assist members in improving methods and the use of resources to obtain better value-for-money through cost-effective technical solutions.

• To lobby government and the Housing Corporation for improvements in funding arrangements to achieve better quality of life in social housing and respond to new social housing proposals, policies and issues.

Services

• Annual Conference held at BRE covering technical, management and policy issues which are of major concern to members. Typical topics are services to tenants, best value and the implications of pending legislation.

• One-day seminars on high priority topics taken from the annual membership topics questionnaire returns, covering the areas of customer service, health and safety, environment and energy matters, best practice in planned and response maintenance and resources. Speakers are experts in their fields, drawn from housing associations, local authorities, BRE, legal advisors, government bodies and the construction industry.

• Half-day regional meetings on topics chosen and hosted by members, e.g. on hand-held computers, gas servicing and maintenance contracts, fuel de-regulation and HECA, contractor quality accreditation, paint flammability in communal areas, selecting energy-efficient windows and environmental assessment tools for housing (e.g. Housing Green Guide)

• Helpline to enable members to share solutions to common technical problems, saving money on repairs, maintenance and refurbishment in housing. The helpline provides access to expertise at BRE and puts members' in touch with specific departments of other members organisations who have experienced similar problems, helping to reduce time and costs. E-mails from members through the Secretariat have proven to be an effective means of harnessing practical experience.

• Special projects – The BRHG continues to be involved in special projects, which currently include INTEGER (Intelligent and Green Housing Project), put into practice in housing re-development by Westlea HA and Sandwell MBC; and CALIBRE, BRE’s assessment method for continuous improvement.