HHSRS: damp, mould and excess cold

Paul qualified as an Environmental Health Officer in 1979 and has worked for a number of inner London and two rural authorities, specialising in private sector housing. Paul has also worked for a Residential Social Landlord as a Maintenance Manager, dealing with routine, cyclical and project management. Since 1995, Paul has worked as a consultant in this field, carrying out, managing and quality assessing stock condition surveys, working for both public and private sector landlords on specific projects or providing staff cover. He set up his own company in 1998.

After leaving school, Paul was one of the first students to obtain a B.Sc. (Hons) in Environmental Health at the University of Greenwich, gaining further qualifications with a Diploma in Management Studies from Kingston University and in Quality Assurance Assessment.

Paul has been involved with the implementation of the Housing Health and Safety Hazard Rating System since its inception in 1999. He is a University of Warwick Trainer for the system, having helped deliver over 300 courses on its assessment and enforcement.

Recent contracts have included;

• Acting Private Sector Housing Manager for Gravesham Borough Council, specifically submitting a successful bid for £0.86M additional grant funding
• Delivering training courses to Private Sector Landlords on HMO issues
• Delivering training courses to Surveying Companies and RSLs on the Health and Safety Hazard Rating System
• Paul had worked for 5 years as a Private Sector Housing Team Manager with Oxford City Council, taking the lead on various projects including HMO Enforcement and Unlawful Developments.

He continues to be employed as a consultant for both for Local Authorities in Private Sector Housing and for private landlords, RSLs and charities such as Shelter, putting theory into practice, he has been the chairman of the National HMO Network and is still part of the steering group for that organisation. Paul is currently contracted to the Private Sector Housing Teams at East Hampshire/Havant Council and Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council.

John has worked in the field of housing standards for the last 20 years, both in private practice providing consultancy, survey and training services, and more recently as an enforcement officer within local authority private sector housing teams. He has also been a member of the English Housing Survey team since 2001 and has used the HHSRS in survey work from 2002.

He has been involved in training local authority and housing association officers on the provisions of the Housing Act 2004, either through the various initial government funded training schemes or by direct commission from clients, since the mid-2000s.

He currently works part time in a local authority as a senior officer private sector housing officer with responsibilities including general complaints, HMO licensing and enforcement, caravan site licensing, DFGs, and the development of policy and procedures, and is Director of a housing consultancy practice.