CIH were granted a Royal Charter in 1984 and our work is governed by our Charter and Byelaws, overseen by the Privy Council.
We are also a registered charity, with education at the core of our charitable status. That means we must comply with the requirements of the law relating to charities. Our activities are regulated by the Charity Commission in England and Wales, and the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator in Scotland.
Governing board members
John Hannigan FCIH
John Hannigan FCIH
- Chair of the governing board
John Hannigan is a well-known leading voice and driver in the delivery of social and affordable housing in Ireland.
As CEO of Circle Voluntary Housing Association and as chair of The Housing Alliance, he strives for the industry to ‘do more’ in its contribution to ‘Housing for All’.
All aiming to challenge the barriers to delivery, be innovative in its approach to meet social and affordable housing targets, and to provide homes to those in housing need.
John has over 30 years’ experience in the housing sector, he is a CIH Fellow member, a Fellow of the Association of Certified Accountants and a chartered member of the Institute of Directors.
Aileen Evans CIHCM
Aileen Evans CIHCM
- Vice chair of governing board
- Chair of the Governance, Ethics, Remuneration and Nominations Committee
Aileen Evans is CEO of Grand Union Housing Group and at the end of June 2021 completed her term as the president of CIH.
A qualified coach and NLP master practitioner she has a strong interest in understanding healthy organisational cultures and the impact on performance.
As part of her presidential campaign, she worked with the mental health charity MIND to provide a guide for housing organisations on creating mental health support within organisations; and raised over £50,000 to support MIND.
Aileen believes that a good home is a human right and was one of the founders of the SHOUT campaign that made the economic argument for government investment on social housing.
Chan Kataria OBE, FCIH
Chan Kataria OBE, FCIH
- Vice chair of governing board
- Chair of audit and risk committee (ARC)
Chan Kataria OBE is the group chief executive of emh group, a housing and care group with a turnover of £130 million, 1,100 employees and over 20,000 homes in management.
The group is a major developer of affordable homes, and provider of care and support services in the East Midlands.
Prior to this role, Chan worked for various local, regional, and national housing organisations. He is also a non-executive director in several organisations, including CIH and Housemark.
Outside of the sector, Chan is a board member of a regional hospice, a further education college, and the CBI Regional Council.
Ria Bailes
Ria Bailes
- Member of governing board
- Member of Governance, Ethics, Remuneration and Nominations Committee
Ria Bailes is the founding director of BPC and has spent 15 years working in private and public sector organisations. She has executive and non-executive director experience and specialises in improving business performance through effective leadership and people strategies.
She has created leadership programmes targeted at building inclusive workplaces and enjoys working with leaders on their personal impact and how they engage with their people to inspire great performance. Ria is skilled in strategy formulation and communication. She has established and grown new business ventures and led major organisational change and programmes.
Ria’s other roles include being a board member and chair of the Culture, Talent and Remuneration Committee at Fair4All Finance. She chairs the Green Spaces Advisory Panel and sits on the Peabody Academy Board.
Joseph Carr
Joseph Carr
- Member of governing board
Joseph Carr is a qualified accountant with over 30 years’ experience. He has been associated with the sector on and off for the majority of his working life; very early on in the finance team of the Hyde Housing Group and more than a decade heading up finance policy at the National Housing Federation. Currently retired, he has worked for Altair Consultancy, for MORhomes, the housing association bond aggregator, and Savills Housing Consultancy.
Jospeh has also held a number of board roles, serving as the chair of Longhurst’s Treasury and Finance Committee and he currently sits on the group board of mhs and chairs the Finance Audit and Risk Committee.
These roles have given him a wealth of knowledge and experience in the finance and business models across the spectrum of social housing providers. His experience includes advising and working closely with executive teams, boards and the Regulator on financial accounting and reporting, treasury, pensions, tax, risk management, compliance, governance and mergers.
Vanessa Harwood-Whitcher
Vanessa Harwood-Whitcher
- Member of governing board
Vanessa has been the CEO of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) since 2021. With an MBA from Loughborough University and a 30-year career spanning commercial and charity sectors, she’s a seasoned leader in professional standards and membership organisations.
An early passion for education has led her to senior roles in higher education and professional bodies, supporting diverse professions from IT to finance to health & safety. Vanessa’s global experience includes partnering with international governments and NGOs to build skills in emerging economies, and leading commercial training for many household name companies.
Driven by values of fairness and inclusion, Vanessa focuses on areas where she can impact social justice, most recently at IOSH by supporting a safe and healthy world of work.
Foluke Sangobowale
Foluke Sangobowale
- Member of governing board
- Member of Governance, Ethics, Remuneration and Nominations Committee
Foluke Sangobowale is currently the head of neighbourhood management in London and support services at SNG (formerly Sovereign Network Group). Foluke has supported EDI projects, led change, and worked on a number of housing management projects such as welfare reforms roll out, service delivery projects, community safety projects, IT implementation and most recently a merger integration project. She has qualifications in law, risk, governance, compliance and business management.
Foluke is passionate about having more professionals join and stay in the housing so actively mentors other aspiring leaders. Passionate about having more representation of diversity on boards, she is a member of the Governance, Ethics, Remuneration and Nominations Committee of as well as the chair of a school board. She also sits on CIH’s Awarding Organisation Committee as the link trustee to the CIH governing board.
Paul Smith
Paul Smith
- Member of governing board
Paul Smith is the Chief Executive of Elim Housing and a Trustee of Andrews Charitable Trust. Paul has worked in the housing and charitable sector for over 30 years and experience includes being Chief Executive of the Housing Sector Skills agency Housing Potential UK and the national body the Furniture Reuse Network and has been the Director of the Placeshapers network. Paul also served for four years as the Cabinet Member for Housing at Bristol City Council.
In his spare time Paul researches and documents social history relating to housing and recently published his first book “Hartcliffe Betrayed” comparing the original plans and what was built on the post war estate where he grew up. Paul is a qualified teacher of science and mathematics and has a degree in Astrophysics.
James Ballantyne
James Ballantyne
- Co-opted member of governing board
- Link member with Futures group
James Ballantyne is a housing professional based in Somerset, in the South West of England who specialises in projects and business design. James currently works for Legal and General Affordable Homes, has worked for number of housing providers in London and the South West of England, and is a non-executive director for Magna. A firm believer in the power the housing sector has to support and grow communities across the country, James champions good housing quality and innovation in housing delivery.
As the former chair of CIH Futures, James is passionate about supporting young professionals reach their potential, and ensure that professionalism is seen as a key part of their career when looking to make a difference in the housing sector.
Nigel Finney CIHCM
Nigel Finney CIHCM
- Co-opted member of governing board
- Chair of CIH’s professional standards committee
I have been a member of the CIH for 35 years. The professional qualification gave me an excellent grounding in all aspects of the profession and its rich history. Since that time, I have benefited from the knowledge and guidance the CIH has given to the sector. I have also valued the camaraderie and the sense of being part of the housing movement that membership of the CIH brings.
Now I have stepped back from senior operational roles and moved to being a member of housing association boards I am giving something back to the CIH by being a member of the Governing Board and chair of the Professional Standards Committee. I am enthusiastic about developing the professional standards and assisting the CIH in driving up standards in the sector.
Governing board
Our governing board works closely with the executive team to set the strategic direction of our business. The board meet four times a year, to guide the work of CIH and ensure we continue to provide excellent support for our members and the wider housing community.
The members of the board come from across the UK, from the public and private sectors, and bring with them a wealth of unique experience and knowledge.
Presidential team
Elly Hoult
Elly Hoult
- CIH president
- Member of governing board
With over two decades of experience, Elly Hoult is the COO at Peabody. Throughout her career, she has witnessed the transformative power of housing and its impact on individuals, families, and communities.
Her journey began as a housing officer in care and support, where she gained invaluable insights into the challenges faced by people seeking safe and affordable homes.
Elly is CIH’s president and a current board member. Elly also chairs the Better Social Housing Review’s “Knowing our homes” group, aimed at creating a data standard for housing associations across the UK.
For the majority of her career, she has been a huge advocate for equality, diversity and inclusion and was instrumental in introducing the Race Code to CIH and setting up CIH Futures as the first chair for members under 30 years old.
Julie Haydon
Julie Haydon
- CIH vice president
- Co-opted member of governing board
As a dedicated and accomplished housing professional Julie Haydon holds the role of director of corporate services at Wolverhampton Homes.
Applying an approach of strong leadership - this supports the driving of improvements in housing management, tenant engagement and service redesign.
- Be an effective leader for the profession and an ambassador for CIH
- Be an inspirational figure for CIH members and the wider housing sector and provide "challenge" for improvement
- Be a "champion" for housing issues
- Lead CIH’s international relationships and development work
- Be one of the "public faces" of CIH alongside the governing board chair and chief executive and attend CIH and other events as a speaker and spokesperson
- Promote the housing profession and seek to ensure that the profession is not brought into disrepute and use their best endeavours to protect CIH’s reputation
- Have some responsibility for seeking to ensure that the broad governance of the CIH is effective
- Be regarded as an informal natural arbiter
- Communicate with members and the wider housing sector on important matters of housing policy and professionalism
- Undertake international liaison (including overseas visits) in line with CIH objectives and policies decided by the governing board
- Be an ex-officio (non-voting) governing board member, with a right to attend and speak and be bound by its decisions and support the task of recruiting trustees
- Set, or have set, a specific strategic objective or project to be undertaken during their term of office
CHOOSE HOUSING - CIH presidential campaign
CHOOSE HOUSING is a CIH presidential campaign, by Elly Hoult, that seeks to raise awareness of the career opportunities the housing sector provides. The campaign focuses on encouraging greater diversity in the sector and inspiring more people to pursue housing as a career of choice.
CHOOSE HOUSING
Be EPIC was the CIH presidential campaign, by Jill Murray BA FCIH. Be EPIC championed the elements that can make us competent professionals, highlighting how technical competencies must be coupled with personal competencies and behaviors, continued learning and hard work to be successful. Alongside 'Be EPIC' Jill raised funds for Action for Children.
In my shoes is a CIH presidential campaign, by Lara Oyedele, that seeks to raise awareness of the importance of racial diversity in the housing sector, drawing on Lara’s lived experience of the housing sector and racial adversity.
The campaign will challenge the lack of ethnic and racial diversity in the boardrooms of housing organisations, providing a catalyst to galvanise positive change.
The Homeful campaign, led by CIH president Jo Richardson will ran throughout Jo Richardson's presidency from July 2021 to December 2022. The campaign included a sizeable co-produced action research project exploring housing-led approaches to resolve and prevent all forms of homelessness across the UK. Housing professionals will work together to collect data, analyse findings and share learning across all parts of the UK.
#ShineALight was launched by Chartered Institute of Housing president, Aileen Evans in 2020 with mental health charity Mind, to help housing organisations raise their game on mental health and produced two #ShineALight toolkits to help the housing sector better respond to mental health challenges.
Working with Women's Aid and the Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance, we are asking housing organisations to publicly commit to taking action to support victims of domestic abuse.
The executive team
The executive team is made up of senior colleagues from across the business and drives the strategy set by our governing board.
Our mission at CIH is simple - we support housing professionals to create a future in which everyone has a place to call home.
We conduct research, provide policy analysis, training, qualifications, events and much more to equip our members and the wider housing profession with the skills, knowledge and expertise they need to be the best that they can be. We are also one of the leading voices on housing policy across the UK.
The executive team is responsible for driving this mission and our strategy to make it a reality.
Gavin Smart CIHCM is chief executive at the Chartered Institute of Housing. Prior to joining CIH, Gavin was assistant director of research and futures at the National Housing Federation from 2004 to 2012. Born in Cardiff, Gavin studied public administration at the Polytechnic of Wales and then gained an MSc in sociology at the University of Bristol, where he worked as a research associate on projects for the Department of the Environment, Housing Corporation, Scottish Office and local authorities.
Sue Leppington CIHM has been the director of finance and central services at the Chartered Institute of Housing since July 2022. Having qualified as a chartered accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Birmingham, Sue has spent her career working in a variety of accounting and compliance roles. She has spent the last 14 years working in the not-for-profit sector helping charities to improve their financial performance to improve the outcomes for their beneficiaries.
Sarah Dunkerley CIHM has been the director of professional development at the Chartered Institute of Housing since April 2019. With a passion for vocational education and professional development, throughout her career Sarah has been involved in delivering, developing and quality assuring qualifications and standards across a range of occupational areas – from energy efficiency to procurement and supply. Prior to joining CIH, Sarah held various roles in the further education, awarding and professional body sector, always striving to achieve valuable opportunities for individuals to improve and progress in their career.
Rachael Williamson CIHM is director of policy, communications and external affairs at the Chartered Institute of Housing, where she has been part of the senior leadership team since 2021. Originally joining CIH as head of policy and external affairs, she took on the director role in November 2024. Rachael brings over two decades of experience across central government and the charity sector, with a strong track record in policy, external affairs, communications, campaigning, and member engagement. Prior to joining CIH, Rachael held senior roles at Citizens Advice and in central government, including the Cabinet Office and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Rachael is a passionate advocate for the housing profession and plays an active role in shaping sector thought leadership.
