Chartered Institute of Housing South East Region

10 March 2010  |  You are here: Home > About > Committee

Committee

The regional committee is made up CIH members who work within housing in the South East. It exists to manage regional affairs and to organise and deliver services for members which reflect the overall objectives of CIH and meet members local requirements.

Committee members

Steve Benson, Committee Member

Steve Benson became Managing Director of Testway Housing, part of the Aster Group, in May 2006.

He was previously the Group Director of Operations at the Signpost Housing Group. Prior to that he had a variety of roles in both the housing association and local authority sectors in Dorset, Hampshire and Hertfordshire.

Steve is currently the Vice-President of the Chartered Institute of Housing and Chair of the newly formed ConsultCIH.

Alison Breese, Policy Officer and Council Member

Alison used to work for the Church Commissioners for England where she managed their Octavia Hill properties in London for ten years, trained as a generic housing manager and gained her CIH professional qualification.

In 1987 she moved to Gillingham Borough Council to take up the post of Housing Development Officer. She then moved to Rochester City Council in 1990 to become a Strategy Officer and was later promoted to Assistant City Environment Manager.

In 1998 Alison became Assistant Director for Community and Environment (Housing) Services at the newly formed Medway Council. Following a further reorganisation in April 2001, she became Assistant Director of Community Services, a post within a combined housing and social services department. She left local governemnt in 2005 to take up the post of director of operations with Gallions Housing Association.

Alison is the branch representative on CIH national council and sits on the Policy board. Sheis Chair of the Disabled Persons Accommodation Agency charity in Kent and a member of the Regional Housing Forum and Regional Assembly Working Group on Affordable Housing.

Amy Cheswick, Vice Chair

Amy has worked in housing for 16 years. She works for Richmond Churches Housing Trust as Housing Services Manager, currently on secondment as Service Development Manager.

Previously Amy has worked for Elmbridge Housing Trust as an Area Housing Manager & Hyde Housing Association before this in a variety of roles including Housing Officer, Senior Housing Officer and Acting Estates Services Manager.

Amy has also worked for Richmond Churches Housing Trust in the past and for Moat Housing Society.

Amy is a Fellow of the CIH and has been a member of the Regional Committee since 2001.

David Crosby, Vice Chair

David has worked in housing for 19 years, initially as a Housing Assistant and Housing Advice Assistant with Stevenage Borough Council. He then worked for Rother District Council for 8 years, most recently as Head of Housing Services with responsibility for the Council's retained housing services (post-LSVT) including private sector renewal.

David was Sussex Operations Manager for Orbit Housing Association from 2000-2005, with responsibility for Orbit's 1900 homes across Sussex, managing a local team of 11 office-based staff and 6 scheme-based staff.

David then joined Tunbridge Wells Borough Council as Head of Housing Services in 2005, with responsibility for the Council's strategic housing services including housing needs, enabling and private sector renewal.

David has been a CIH member since 1988 and was elected a Fellow in April 2000. He has been a member of the South East Committee since May 1999.

Kaye Duerdoth, Membership Officer

Kaye has worked in housing for 18 years and has a special interest in community regeneration and training. She is a senior consultant with Priority Estates Project (PEP) and her recent work includes a large community development project in East Brighton and co-ordination of PEP�s national training and conference programme on behalf of the Housing Corporation. She specialises in developing innovative practice through action research. Before joining PEP, Kaye was responsible for tenant participation and co-op development at Chichester Diocesan Housing Association and English Churches Housing Group based in London and then Brighton.

Kaye has been a member of the CIH since 1993 and joined the South East Branch Committee in 2007. She is also a Trustee for Amaze, a charity empowering parents to help their children live fully socially included lives.

Tim Hammond, Press and Publicity Officer

Tim Hammond is Head of Development at Housing Solutions Group in Maidenhead. He has also recently worked as an Independent Consultant. Commissions included Executive at Affordable Housing Solutions, Head of New Business and Development at Wandle Housing Association and Head of Crawley Homes. Prior to this work, Tim was Director of Development Services with James Butcher Housing Association in Theale, Berkshire. He went there from Circle 33 where he was Development Manager. Prior to that, Tim was New Business Manager for South Oxfordshire Housing Association, a stock transfer association, which he transferred to from South Oxfordshire District Council where he had worked for 17 years.

Tim was a CIH council member for 13 years and has been Chief TPP assessor since 1988. He has been Chair of the former Chilterns branch as well as the South East Branch.

Ashley Hook, Committee Member

Ashley joined the mhs homes group as Housing Director and as a member of the board in May 2003. He was previously Head of Housing at the London Borough of Lewisham and has also worked for a number of local authorities and housing associations. As well as being an assessor for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, Ashley is also regularly involved in accrediting university degree courses offering CIH exemptions.

Outside of work, Ashley lists his passions as Millwall FC, tennis and driving his Russian motorbike and sidecar!

Wally Jones, Committee Member

Wally Jones has been working in social housing all his working life, which is now over 32 years. He started at the London Borough of Hammersmith in September 1971. He then moved onto the London Borough of Merton in September 1974. In April 1975 he moved to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea going to Guildford Borough Council in July 1979. In September 1981 he moved to Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (various positions in the Housing Dept) and in May 1996 he started to work for Crawley Borough Council. All his posts were in Estate Management or Housing Administration, and have all been very rewarding and worthwhile.

In April 2000, Wally crossed over to the housing association movement and was delighted to join a really progressive and forward-thinking group, the B&N Group. He is the Southern Regional Manager, and also a member of the main B&N Group Senior Management Team. His patch includes Ashford, Bromley, Burgess Hill, Canterbury, Haywards Heath, Horley, Milton Keynes, Redhill and Reigate.

Wally has been a CIH member for over 28 years now and is a Fellow of the Institute.

Wally is particularly interested in seeing what can be done to assist young people with accommodation, education and welfare support.

Bob Keats, Treasurer

Bob is senior lecturer in housing at the Southampton Institute leading on housing policy and housing finance He qualified in housing in the 1970s and in Personnel Management in the 1980s. He completed an MSc in Project Management in 2001 and is now researching the role of quasi-professional bodies. He has worked for a range of public, private and not for profit organisations in the UK and Australia and has been a Housing Director for an LSVT and a freelance consultant and trainer.

He has served as a comittee member on a number of small associations and was Chair of the CIH London Branch in 1990.

Claire Martin, Chair

Claire has worked for a regional health authority and the Housing Corporation. Claire has been with Kent County Council for fifteen years as a housing specialist within the Social Services Directorate, now the Adult Social Services Directorate. She is now the Head of the Supporting People Team in Kent.

Claire is Chair of London and Quadrant Threshold. She is also a group board member of London and Quadrant Housing Group. She is also Chair of the branch's Membership, Education and Training Sub Committee, and Vice Chair of the branch.

Claire has an MA History and an MSc Housing. She returned to study for a second degree at the LSE in Housing (1993) whilst working for the Housing Corporation, and later Kent County Council. She also became a member of the Chartered Institute of Housing (1993) and is now a Fellow. She has a Postgraduate Diploma in Strategic Management incorporating the Diploma in Management Studies. She also has a Prince 2 Foundation qualification.

Diana Maughan, Committee Member

Diana has worked in the social housing sector for the past 26 years. She is Head of Housing Strategic Services with Crawley Borough Council. Diana has also worked for the London Boroughs of Sutton and Kingston-upon-Thames and began her career in housing with Elmbridge Borough Council. She has worked in a variety of roles mainly involving the delivery of landlord services, most recent being Housing Contracts Manager and Housing Operations Manager prior taking up her current post in 2002.

With a particular interest in training and personal development, Diana is an APEX assessor for the CIH and was course tutor for the CIH National Wardens' Certificate course for two years. She is currently studying for a diploma in personal and corporate coaching.

Diana has experience of serving on the boards and committees of both general needs and specialist RSLs and is currently a member of the South regional committee for Raglan. She has been a member of the CIH since 1983, elected a Fellow in 1993 and has served on the CIH South East Regional Committee since 2000.

Graham Maunders, Immediate Past Chair

Graham started his career as a Trainee Housing Manager in 1977. He has worked for local authorities in Sussex and Surrey and two major housing associations: Hanover and London & Quadrant. He covered a wide range of functions including property management, governance, maintenance, development, regeneration and community development.

He was seconded to the Housing Corporation as a Regulation Officer in 1995, followed by five years as Investment Planning Manager for Kent, East and West Sussex and Surrey. In February 2001 he became Chief Executive of eb4U, the delivery vehicle for the highly successful £90m New Deal for Communities programme for east Brighton.

Graham has been a board member of three housing associations - one as a statutory appointee. He has served on the branch committee for a total of six years, is a Fellow of the Charted Institute of Housing and a Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

In 2006 he established Graham Maunders Associates Housing & Regeneration Consultancy which focuses on practical and innovative solutions to social, economic and environmental issues to deliver sustainable communities.

Chris Moquet, Committee Member

Chris Moquet is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Housing and has been a member of the South East Branch for many years. He is a former chair of the branch and presently leads the International Housing Study sub group for the South East region.

The group is one of the most active within the branch and has open membership. They have arranged regular study visits to Europe and America for the last fifteen years. There is a strong programme lined up for the future.

Chris works for calfordseaden, a property consultancy with offices in Orpington, Winchester, central London and Birmingham. He is a partner with particular responsibility for new initiatives. He is also a board member for Elmbridge Housing Trust.

Martin Pearce, Membership and Professional Development Officer

Martin has worked in housing for over ten years for both housing associations and local authorities. He now works for Southampton City Council as a Senior Housing Officer - he is currently working on a project to deliver neighbourhood change through well-designed physical improvements and community engagement.

For the past four years, Martin has been undertaking the Diploma of Higher Education in Housing at Southampton Solent University.

Martin has been a member of the regional committee since March 2009. He is keen to explore how it can help its members with continuous professional development, equipping them with key skills for the housing sector.

Alistair Queen, Committee Member

Details to follow

Sharon Smith, Committee Member

Sharon works for the A2Dominion Group as Projects and Performance Manager, responsible for driving excellence within the Leasehold Services Department and managing a number of special projects. She has more than 15 years housing experience, both frontline and strategic, local authority, and local and national RSLs.

Sharon is a Fellow of the CIH and Chair of the South East Regional Housing Forum. As Chair of the Forum, she is an officer member of the South East Regional Housing Board and also a member of SEERA's (the South East of England Regional Assembly) Housing Advisory Group. She has a particular interest in facilitating the development of strong regional and sub-regional partnerships to address social, economic and environmental issues, and the sharing of knowledge and good practice.

Sarah Stone, Secretary

Sarah is the retirement housing manager at Saxon Weald. Before this, she worked in housing management for a variety of organisations including Brighton and Hove City Council, Eastbourne Homes, The Hyde Group, Elmbridge Housing Trust and Crawley Borough Council.

Sarah joined the committee in March 2004 and acted as the Student Representative until March 2006, when she was nominated to the role of Secretary. Sarah is also on the South East Regional Project Board for the Financial Inclusion Fund.

David Sweeney, Committee Member

David Sweeney works for Paragon Community Housing Group as Assistant Director Business Performance in the Chief Executive's Department. He has worked in housing for over 30 years in both the local authority and housing association sectors. David has also worked for the Housing Corporation. A Fellow of the CIH, David has been a member of the Institute for almost 20 years. He joined the South East committee in 2004.

Outside of work David has for many years, like fellow Committee members Wally Jones and Tim Hammond, been an ardent support of Chelsea Football Club

David Turner, Committee Member

Prior to his retirement in 2003, David Turner was Chief Executive of Rother Homes, Before that, he was Chief Housing Officer for the Rother District Council. David worked for over 40 years in social housing and continues to maintain his interest in housing as a board member of James Butcher Housing Association, a Director on the board of Eastbourne Homes and as a member of the South East Regional Committee. David also has a considerable involvement with Citizens Advice, chairing the boards of Hastings and Rother Citizens Advice Bureau and Citizens Advice East Sussex whilst serving as a member of the Citizens Advice South East Regional Committee.

Julie Watson-Cowen, Student Representative

Details to follow

Ros Young, Education and Training Officer

Ros Young has been a housing consultant since 2006, specialising in housing management and community development projects, training and lecturing. She is a Fellow of the CIH as well as a member of the Chartered Management Institute and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

Ros has over 20 years' experience as a senior manager responsible for housing management and maintenance services and projects, gained with housing associations and local authorities in the South East.