CIEH Housing and Health Conference

Brian Castle, Team Leader, Joint Inspection Team at Local Government Association (LGA). Brian has worked in housing across four London boroughs for 40 years and he has an MSc in Housing from the LSE. After the Lakanal fire in 2009 when 6 people died, Brian set up and chaired the London Council Housing Directors’ fire safety group until he retired in 2016. After the Grenfell tragedy, Brian helped lobby for a multi-disciplinary team (with a fire engineer, building controller and environmental health professionals) to inspect blocks and assist councils with enforcement, and to change the Operating Guidance for HHSRS assessments of cladded blocks (via an Addendum in 2018). For the last four years, Brian has been head of the national fire safety Joint Inspection Team at the LGA.

Chris Bailey, National Campaigns Manager at Action on Empty Homes. Chris currently leads a project looking at housing development in London and how this could deliver better for those in housing need. He also works on the impact of Airbnb and short lets in taking housing out of residential use and on the analysis and interpretation of national and local housing data. His background is in community-based regeneration. He spent over a decade working in community-based developments trusts and has also worked closely with local authorities on service innovation, housing renewal and community asset management. Prior to joining Action on Empty Homes in 2017 his work focused on sustainability and re-use in construction.

Debi Waite, Head of Operations, Investigations and Intelligence Unit, Building Safety Regulator (BSR). Debi is a registered Environmental Health Officer and spent 23 years working in local authorities. She managed a range of regulatory services: food, health and safety, housing, pollution, community safety, trading standards and building control. She is best known for her work in housing enforcement and for developing successful intelligence-led investigatory and enforcement services. In 2019, she was invited to join DLUHC’s Private Sector Housing and Leasehold division. As a senior policy lead at DLUHC, she brought her expertise in regulating the PRS and bridged the knowledge gap between real life and policy in housing enforcement legislation. Debi joined BSR in January 2023 and is currently Head of Operations (Investigations and Intelligence) within the BSR.

Deborah Garvie, Policy Manager at Shelter. Deborah leads Shelter’s work on homelessness, temporary accommodation and management of social housing. She supported Grenfell United in campaigning for the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 as well as the family of toddler Awaab Ishak to achieve Awaab’s Law. She has also worked to oppose proposals to exempt asylum accommodation from HMO licensing. Shelter helps millions of people every year struggling with bad housing or homelessness and campaigns to make sure that, one day, no one will have to turn to them for help.

Giles Peaker, Partner at Anthony Gold. Giles is one of the most prominent property and housing disputes solicitors in the UK. He advises and represents leaseholders and tenants on building defects, fire safety issues, leasehold disputes, repossession, disrepair claims, poor housing conditions, and homelessness. He is Band One ranked by Chambers and Partners for Social Housing Tenants, was named Housing Lawyer of the Year in 2018, and has co-authored an authoritative handbook on housing conditions and tenants’ rights. He is the editor of the popular Nearly Legal: Housing Law News and Comment blog.

Dr Henry Dawson CEnvH MCIEH, Senior Lecturer and Programme Director for Environmental Health at Cardiff Metropolitan University. Henry’s research interests focus on regulatory interventions for housing and health. His recent work includes national analysis of property licensing schemes and authoring of the recent updates to the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) Operating Guidance. Henry sits on the Wales Housing Expert Panel, the Rent Smart Wales Advisory Panel, and the Welsh Housing Survey Advisory Panel. He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a Chartered Member of CIEH, and a member of the International Federation of Environmental Health (IFEH).

Ian Sanders, Principal EHO at Hull City Council. Ian is a Fellow of the CIEH with a BSc (Hons) in Environmental Health from Leeds Metropolitan University. Ian has worked at Hull City Council as an EHO since 1998. He spent the first 5 years working in the housing, food and environmental protection teams before becoming the Principal EHO specialising in HMOs. Ian chairs the Yorkshire and Humber HMO Network which allows local authority housing officers to meet three times a year to discuss ongoing cases, share information, carry out benchmarking and discuss technical and legal issues. He is also a member of the CIEH Housing Advisory Panel and has represented CIEH on the Department of Health and Social Care advisory group that produced the recent damp and mould guidance.

Janet Wade, Partnership and Development Officer, Private Sector Housing Team, London Borough of Camden. Janet currently works to raise the profile of the PSH team, involving tenants, landlords and other non-statutory PRS partners. She has worked in a variety of local authority private sector housing roles over the last 30 years, including project managing the introduction and renewal of HMO licensing schemes and a successful sub-regional empty property programme. She has also worked for the Housing Ombudsman. Janet is a Chartered Member of CIEH and a member of the CIEH Housing Advisory Panel.

John Palmer, Director of Influencing and Engagement at Independent Age. John has held director-level roles at major charities, including Oxfam, The Scout Association, the National Centre for Social Research, and the MS Society. Previously, John was the Interim Director of Philanthropy and Deputy CEO at the Milton Keynes Community Foundation. He also has secondment and interim experience in several Whitehall government departments. John has been leading the development of Independent Age’s new strategy, which focuses on supporting older people in financial hardship through policy change campaigning, information and advice, community reconnection and funding local organisations.

Julia Jones, Partner at Bevan Brittan LLP. Julia specialises in providing advice to clients within the health and social care sector, local authorities and the housing sector. She has a particular interest in vulnerable adults and safeguarding. She advises clients on issues concerning mental capacity, best interests and deprivation of liberty. She regularly represents public bodies in cases in the Court of Protection, including serious medical treatment cases, as well as advising clients on complex packages of care.

Dr Julie Rugg, Reader in Social Policy, School for Business and Society at University of York. Julie has a particular interest in the English Private Rented Sector (PRS) and has, since 1993, published many reports focussing on landlord and tenant behaviour at the lower end of the market. Recently, she worked with the housing charity Safer Renting, publishing the first report on criminal landlordism ‘Journeys in the Shadow Private Rented Sector’ (2021), and a study of London borough experiences of implementing Selective Licensing (2024). She is currently leading a large-scale ESRC project on criminal landlordism.

Kelvin Woodward, Director at Kelvin Woodward Expert Ltd. Kelvin is a Chartered Environmental Health Practitioner, with 22 years’ experience working within local authorities. He is currently a Programme Manager with Brighton and Hove City Council, where he is leading a public consultation on proposed Additional Housing in Multiple Occupation (HMO) and Selective Licensing Schemes for the City’s Private Rented Housing Sector. Kelvin previously contributed research to BRE’s guidance on Overheating in Dwellings. He is also experienced in Housing Expert Witness work, involving high standards of housing inspections and report writing to withstand scrutiny during any litigation. His company is a subscribing member to the British Standards Institute (BSI), demonstrating Kelvin’s commitment to excellence on industry guidance and standards.

Peter Keates, Executive Director at Local Authority Building Control (LABC). Peter’s career in Public Service Building Control started in 1986 as a Building Control Technician at Spelthorne Borough Council. He then held roles at Mid Bedfordshire District Council including Building Control Surveyor, Senior Building Control Surveyor and Building Control Manager. Following this, Peter was Head of Service at Central Bedfordshire Council for Building Control, Development Management, Planning Enforcement, Minerals & Waste Planning, Flood Risk and Albion Archaeology. While developing an award-winning building control team, Peter has led improvements for a number of other local authority service areas. At LABC, Peter is responsible for communication, engagement, member support and HR. He is collaborating with colleagues, stakeholders and LABC members to support public service building control with the challenges they face now and in the future.

Richard Chubb CEnvH FCIEH, Principal Environmental Health Officer, Joint Inspection Team at LGA. Richard has been Principal EHO for the National Fire Safety Joint Inspection Team for four years having initially been seconded into the team from Nottingham City Council. He qualified as an EHO in 2006, after completing a Masters degree in Environmental Health, following a Degree in Applied Biology at Bath University. Richard has worked in Private sector Housing for the majority of his career with roles at Swindon, Rutland, Peterborough, Mansfield and Nottingham City Council.

Sarah Davis CIHCM, Senior Policy and Practice Officer at Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH). Sarah works for CIH’s policy team and leads on work around the connections between and importance of housing with health and care in England. She also covers resident involvement and regulation. Prior to working for CIH, Sarah held a number of housing roles within local authority and housing associations.

Tarun Bhakta, Policy Manager at Shelter. Tarun is focusing on private renting policy including tenancy reform, standards and redress. He has worked in Shelter's policy team for five years and has worked on campaigns to reform regulation in the social rented sector alongside Grenfell United, as well as for increased social housing delivery.

Zena Lynch, Honorary Associate Professor at University of Birmingham. Zena is an Honorary Associate Professor in the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, where she previously led the MSc Environmental Health programmes. She comes from a professional environmental health background, with her work latterly focussed in the areas of Private Sector Housing and Public Health. Zena is joint author of ‘Environmental Health and Housing: Issues for public health’ and she recently contributed to ‘Regulating the Privately Rented Housing Sector’. She is a founder member of a new national housing and health academic-practitioner group and a member of the CIEH Housing Advisory Panel.

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