It was a wild and windy Wednesday in Leeds when the rumours began to spread among the UKREIIF conference delegates.  

At first, nobody was quite sure how seriously to take them. The housing minister himself, in a Q&A with a housing association boss, seemed as surprised as everyone else. 

“I have no idea where this came from,” Lee Rowley said, laughing: “It’s not what I am planning for and, if it does happen, I’ll be out leafleting in the rain in the constituency later.” 

Across the afternoon’s panel sessions, many attendees appeared to be paying as much attention to the updates from their Twitter feeds as to the panellists in front of them. Then, shortly after 5pm, it was confirmed: There will be a general election – and soon.