Chairman:
Richard Best

Other Members
Kate Barker
Sarah-Jane Curtis
Sir John Egan
Natalie Elphicke
Sir Terry Farrell
Prof Chris Hamnett
Cllr Angela Harvey
Kelvin MacDonald
Nick Raynsford MP
John Socha
Jeremy Swain
Anu Vedi
Mike Youkee
Sir George Young MP
David Lunts (Observer)

Richard Best
Lord Best has been Director of both the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust since 1988.

He is President of the Local Government Association and was a member of the Minister of Local Government's Sounding Board from 2002-2005. He was a member of the Housing Minister's Sounding Board from 1999-2001; was a member of the Commission on the Future of Birmingham's Council Housing (2002) and chaired the Hull Partnership Liaison Board (2002-2004).

He is also Chair of the Giving Forum and President of the Continuing Care Conference. Among his previous posts have been: Commissioner, Rural Development Commission (1989-1998); Chair, Inquiry into Social Inclusion in Glasgow (1998-2000); Secretary, Duke of Edinburgh’s Inquiry into British Housing (1984-1991). Between 1973 and 1988 he was Director of the National Federation of Housing Associations. Richard Best was created a Life Peer in 2001.

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Kate Barker
Kate Barker was appointed as an external member of the Monetary Policy Committee with effect from 1 June 2001. In June 2004, she was re-appointed for a further three years.

She was appointed (by Government) in April 2003 to conduct an independent Review of UK Housing Supply; leading to a final report in March 2004. The Government’s full response to this Review was published in December 2005. In December 2005, she was asked to conduct an independent review of Land Use Planning, to report in late 2006.

In October 2005 she was appointed a Board Member of the Housing Corporation.

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Sarah-Jane Curtis
Sarah-Jane is a chartered surveyor and member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. She is currently UK Residential Director at Grosvenor, where responsibilities involve the performance of the residential and on-Estate retail portfolios and the provision of a mix of users and tenures in a community environment within Belgravia and Mayfair, to meet existing and future occupiers needs.

Sarah-Jane’s career at Grosvenor also involved time spent as Retail Director within the shopping centre and mixed use city centre development and investment markets. She has in particular been involved with the tenant mix, planning and public realm integration within these disciplines.

Sarah-Jane is Grosvenor’s representative on CLP (Central London Partnership), a previous director of NWEC (New West End Company) and external examiner at Northumbria University.

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Sir John Egan
Sir John Egan is currently Non executive Chairman of Inchcape plc and Severn Trent plc.

Sir John was born in 1939, is married to Julia and has two daughters, Katy and Lydia. He was educated at Bablake School, Coventry and London University where he graduated in Petroleum Engineering. From 1962-66 he was employed by Shell International as a Petroleum Engineer. From 1966-68 he studied at the London Business School and obtained an MSc in Business Studies.

In 1968 he became General Manager of AC Delco’s UK replacement parts operation, part of General Motors. He then joined British Leyland in 1971 and his initial period with that company culminated in his appointment as Director of BL Parts and Service. In this role he was responsible for the rapid development of the very successful Unipart operation.

Sir John left British Leyland in 1976 to become Marketing Director of Massey Ferguson’s construction and machinery division based in Rome. He subsequently became Corporate Parts Director.

Sir John rejoined British Leyland as Chairman of Jaguar Cars in May 1980 and when it was privatised in August 1984 he remained as Chairman and Chief Executive of Jaguar Cars Limited, later becoming Chairman and Chief Executive of Jaguar plc in March 1985.

After the take-over by Ford, Sir John retired from Jaguar and was appointed to the Board of Directors of BAA plc on 15 June 1990, taking up the position of Chief Executive on 1 September 1990 which he held until 1 October 1999.

Sir John is non-executive Chairman of Inchcape plc, Harrison Lovegrove Co Ltd, and a non-executive Director of Asite plc. He is past President of the Institute of Management and retired as President of the CBI in May 2004. He joined the Board of Severn Trent plc in October 2004 and became Chairman in January 2005.

Sir John’s interests are sport, theatre and music. He was knighted in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in June 1986 and is a Deputy Lieutenant of the County of Warwickshire.

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Natalie Elphicke
Natalie Elphicke is a partner and Head of Social Housing Finance at law firm Denton Wilde Sapte. Natalie is national leading housing finance expert, recognised by Chambers Legal Directory and the Legal 500.

Natalie is also a specialist in Affordable Housing and co-founded the firm's 40 lawyer strong Affordable Housing Group, which works with developers, government and non-governmental agencies and planning authorities throughout the UK.

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Sir Terry Farrell
Principal of Farrells, Terry Farrell is an internationally recognised architect and urban designer with offices in London, Edinburgh and Hong Kong. In practice for over 40 years, Farrell has completed high-profile building schemes and masterplans in cities as diverse as Edinburgh, Hong Kong, Dubai, Lisbon, London and Seoul.

Recent work in the UK includes the masterplan and design of the new London Home Office Headquarters and two millennium projects: the award-winning Centre for Life in Newcastle, celebrating the story of genetics, and The Deep in Hull, which houses a marine science centre. Other projects include Edinburgh’s Dean Centre Art Gallery, the Transportation Centre at Inchon International Airport, Seoul, Kowloon Station & Masterplan in Hong Kong, Greenwich Pier, London, a world-class aquarium in Seattle, USA and the tourist building at the top of the Peak in Hong Kong - the most visible structure on the city’s skyline. The practice is currently designing a new aquarium at Silvertown Quays in London’s Docklands.

The practice is well-known for its masterplanning expertise and is currently working in a number of core cities: Leeds, Preston, Birmingham and others.
Farrell has transformed London’s skyline and animated the banks of the Thames with his Charing Cross Station and MI6 headquarters buildings. He has won many awards and lectured extensively. He was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1978, made Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for services to architecture in 1996 and was knighted in 2001. The practice’s work has been published in books and journals internationally.

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Prof Chris Hamnett
Chris Hamnett is Professor of Geography at King’s College London, a post he has held since 1995. He has also held visiting positions both in Britain and overseas, including Washington DC, Sydney, Canberra, Amsterdam and Nuffield College, Oxford.

His main research area is housing and social change in major cities, and he is the author of several books including ‘Cities, Housing and Profits: the flat break up market in London’ (1989) ‘As Safe as Houses: Housing Inheritance in Britain’ (1985), ‘Shrinking the State: a comparative analysis of privatisation’ (1999), ‘Winners and Losers: the home ownership market in modern Britain’ (1999) and, most recently ‘Unequal City: London in the Global Arena’, Routledge (2003).

In 1984-5 he was Research Director of the Nugee Committee of Inquiry into management problems of privately owned flats, which led to the Landlord and Tenant Act, 1987 which received all party support in Parliament. In 1998-9 he was special advisor to the German Ministry of Planning focusing on social change in large cities for the preparation of their Habitat 2000 conference.

He is currently on the advisory panel on Affordable Housing for the ODPM. He writes on economic, urban and housing matters for the Guardian, The Independent and the Financial Times. He is currently jointly involved in an ESRC funded research project on social class, ethnic change and education in East London.

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Cllr Angela Harvey
Angela Harvey is Westminster City Council Cabinet Member for Housing and is Councillor for Tachbrook. HR professional and Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development and has a postgraduate qualification in general management. Own HR consultancy - Angela Harvey Associates Ltd. - with clients in the profit and not-for-profit sectors. She previously worked as a HR specialist for blue chip companies including Beecham Pharmaceuticals, BOC and B.A.T Industries plc.

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Kelvin MacDonald
Kelvin MacDonald is the Director of Policy and Practice at the Royal Town Planning Institute and an Affiliated Lecturer at the Department of Land Economy, Cambridge. He is a member of the Management Board of the ODPM’s Planning Research Network and of the steering group of the ODPM’s Planning Advisory Service.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Town Planning Institute and of the Royal Society of Arts. He was a member of the Ministerial Advisory Group on Planning Contributions and a specialist adviser to the House of Commons' ODPM Select Committee for its inquiries on affordable housing and on sustainable communities.

He was Visiting Professor at Westminster University from 1997 to 2003 and has been an adviser on urban policy to the Guangdong Provincial Government in China. He was a specialist assessor for housing and planning degree courses for the Higher Education Funding Council and wrote a monthly column for Planning newspaper from 1983 until 2002. He has published widely on planning, housing and regeneration issues.

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Rt Hon Nick Raynsford MP
Rt Hon Nick Raynsford MP has been a Member of Parliament for Greenwich and Woolwich since 1997 (MP for Greenwich 1992-7). He joined the Government in 1997 and held responsibility for housing, planning and construction as well as being Minister for London. Most recently he held the post of Minister for Local and Regional Government in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister from 2001 to 2005. He was made a Privy Councillor in the 2001 New Year's Honours.

Nick Raynsford was Shadow Minister for Housing and Construction from 1994 and front bench spokesperson for London from 1993. He was a member of the House of Commons Environment Select Committee from 1992-1993. Nick was Member of Parliament for Fulham from 1986 to 1987. He was a councillor for the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham from 1971 to 1975. Nick Raynsford has extensive experience of the housing sector.

He was Director of SHAC, the London Housing Aid Centre between 1976 and 1986. During this time he campaigned to secure the passage of the 1977 Housing (Homeless Persons) Act. He was also Director of Raynsford and Morris, Housing Consultants from 1987 to 1992. He is the author of "A Guide to Housing Benefits" (first edition 1982) , "Making sense of Localism" (2004), and "Choice cuts" (2004).

He is married with three children, and lives in Blackheath.

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John Socha
Born near Carlisle in 1958. John worked for large international companies for 19 years prior to relocating to Northampton in 1988. He established Orchardlettings.com Ltd in 1995 and now employs 7 staff at his office in Northampton. He also runs Orchard Block Management Services Ltd managing 30 apartment blocks with over 400 flats.

He purchased his first investment property in 1996, building a portfolio of 21 properties. Orchardlettings.com Ltd is the largest private sector housing benefit recipient in Northampton.

John is Vice Chairman of the National Landlords Association, which he joined in 1996 (then Small Landlords Association). John helped to establish the Northampton branch of which he is Chairman with over 225 members. NLA now has over 7,300 members in the U.K. (with members in every postcode except Orkney & Shetland).

John undertakes public speaking and public relations duties. He has assisted with articles in The Sunday Times. He is also a regular contributor to Moneybox Live on BBC Radio 4.

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Jeremy Swain
Jeremy Swain is Chief Executive of Thames Reach Bondway, a voluntary sector organisation working with rough sleepers and other vulnerable homeless people in London. Thames Reach Bondway was formed in 2001 from the merger of Thames Reach and Bondway – still the largest merger in the homelessness charitable sector.

Jeremy started work in the homelessness sector in 1980, moving to Thames Reach in 1984 where he spent four years as a street outreach worker before progressing to Housing Services Manager, and then Director of Thames Reach in 1999. Following merger he became Chief Executive of Thames Reach Bondway.

He is currently a non-executive Director of StreetShine, a social business employing former homeless people to provide a shoe care service to corporate businesses.

He chairs the Pan-London Providers’ Group comprising the Chief Executives of the seven largest providers of homelessness services in London, is an active member of ACEVO (the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations) and sits on the Business Action on Homelessness London Steering Group. He regularly comments on voluntary sector issues on TV, radio and through the written media and lectures on subjects such as stakeholder partnerships and mergers.

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Anu Vedi
Anu Vedi is the Chief Executive of Genesis Housing Group. He is recognised in the housing sector for his strong, innovative leadership and his passionate commitment to the communities he serves. He was made a CBE for services to housing in the latest New Year's honours.

Under his stewardship, Genesis has experienced massive growth in recent years, and the Group now owns and or manages over 40,000 homes across London and the south east.

A qualified chartered accountant, Anu first entered the housing sector in 1982, working as the finance director of two large housing associations before joining PCHA (now a Genesis subsidiary) in 1988. He was appointed to the position of chief executive in 1999. Anu is also a board member of the Paddington Development Trust and chair of Faith Regen UK's advisory panel.

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Mike Youkee
Mike Youkee is Head of Housing Initiatives at Quintain Estates and Development plc, the company leading the regeneration of Wembley and, with partners Lend Lease, the regeneration of the Greenwich Peninsula. He was closely involved in the Section 106 affordable housing negotiations on both these schemes and also in a freelance capacity on the Stratford City regeneration as well has having worked variously for Local Authorities and housing associations in addition to developers.

Mike is currently leading the development of the first residential plot at Wembley, being undertaken in joint venture with two housing associations and is supporting the team negotiating the disposal of the first residential plots on Greenwich Peninsula. He is also part of a wider group within Quintain looking at how private developers can deliver genuinely sustainable living.

Mike has extensive experience of the housing sector and began his housing career in 1969 with the GLC Housing department. At the time of its abolition in 1986, he headed up the 100 strong Area Improvement and Modernisation division. Mike has also acted for South Bank University on urban renewal; was the Inner London Education Authority's housing consultant; developed the new initiatives programme for London and Quadrant Housing Trust and worked as New Initiatives Director and Development and New Business Director at Ealing Family Housing Association (now part of the Catalyst Group).

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Rt Hon Sir George Young MP
Sir George has been Member of Parliament for North West Hampshire since 1997 , having been first elected to Parliament in 1974 as MP for Ealing Acton. As Member for North West Hampshire, he became Shadow Leader of the House of Commons in William Hague's Shadow Cabinet, having been Shadow Defence Secretary from May 1997 until June 1998. In the June 1999 Sir George was given additional responsibilities as Spokesman on Constitutional Affairs.

His earlier Ministerial career under Margaret Thatcher and John Major included spells at Health, Environment. He was a junior Housing Minister from 1981 to 1986, and Minister of State for Housing and Planning from 1990 to 1995. He introduced the Rough Sleeping Initiative in central London, oversaw the programme of Large Scale Voluntary Transfers and the development of Housing Action Trusts He then served as Financial Secretary to HM Treasury, 1994-1995 and joined John Major's Cabinet as Secretary of State for Transport from 1995-1997.

In September 2000, Sir George resigned from the Shadow Cabinet to allow his name to go forward as a candidate for Speaker. Since the General Election of 2001, he has been Chairman of the Select Committee on Standards and Privileges.

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David Lunts
David Lunts is the Executive Director for Policy & Partnerships at the Greater London Authority, with responsibility for planning, regeneration, environmental and social policy.

Before moving to the GLA in February 2005, he was Director of Urban Policy at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, where he played a key role in the sustainable communities plan and wider urban and regional policy, including sponsorship of English Partnerships, the Core Cities and the Northern Way. He began his regeneration career in Manchester where he was Chair of the City Council’s Housing Committee from 1988 – 95, and led the City Challenge renewal of Hulme in the early 1990s.

David moved to London in 1996 to run the Urban Villages Forum, a widely supported membership not-for-profit group, and established a joint projects team with English Partnerships to deliver major mixed development schemes.

He became the chief executive of the newly formed Prince’s Foundation in 1998, a projects, teaching and policy charity for the urban and built environment.
He was also a member of Lord Rogers’ Urban Task Force.

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