DIRECTOR

Brighid joined Action on Empty Homes in May 2016 to lead our work on community-led approaches to bringing empty homes back into residential use and works with projects across the country as well as partners in Scotland and Wales. Brighid developed our Community Action on Empty Homes Toolkit as a resource for local authorities and community groups. In addition to the role of Director she leads our community-led Retrofit Empty Homes Action Partnerships project, which is supported by the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation.

DIRECTOR OF POLICY AND CAMPAIGNS

Chris joined Action on Empty Homes in November 2017. Initially developing the Campaign for Community Investment with a wide variety of partners across the housing sector. He then led a series of projects on housing in London looking at development trends amid rapidly growing vacancy levels. His work focuses on analysing data to support housing policy development at local and national level. He also works on the impact of Airbnb and short lets in taking housing out of residential use. Chris leads our public communications and campaign work

Alice is a qualified Architect and Associate Director at Peter Barber Architects, a leading UK architectural practice specialising in housing and homeless facilities. She has also taught at a number of schools of architecture and is currently a visiting critic at The Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University.

Steve is our current Chair. He is an Architect and Commercial Manager at Manalo & White Architects, a London practice with a wide range of specialisations. He has over 25 years of professional experience working in the UK and internationally. He is an active housing campaigner and has recently worked with campaigning groups in Islington and Hackney.

Debbie is an academic who does research on housing, community planning and neighbourhoods. Currently, she is a research fellow at the Open University, a section editor for the journal ‘City: analysis of urban change, theory, action’ and campaigns and volunteers for Homes for All and Streets Kitchen. She has a background in community work and photo-journalism.

Rex is an academic economist at Kingston University, London. He has also held Lecturer, Assistant Professor and Senior Researcher posts in Economics at the University of Technology, Kingston, Jamaica; Purchase College, SUNY, New York, USA; and University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. Before academia he worked as a professional Foreign Exchange Dealer for sixteen years and this professional experience has framed his research, which is usually about the relationship between high finance and social inequality. His current research focus is on offshore investment in urban real estate in the UK.

Will McMahon has worked in the social activism sector for more than 30 years, at Campaign Against Arms Trade, the Child Poverty Action Group, the National Children’s Bureau, the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies and as Director of Action on Empty Homes from 2018 to 2022. Will is now working part-time at the user-led Care Leavers’ Association as part of a team delivering the Care Leavers Connected social networking project. Will was Chair of the CLA between 2006 and 2011. Will believes if you do not have a permanent home that is secure and warm then you do not have the essential secure base from which to live your life.

Sabine is a strategy and communications specialist with over 20 years’ experience. Having started her career at the BBC, she has been immersed in London’s creative community for two decades. She founded Zetteler in 2012, dedicating her time and her business to championing the creative people, progressive brands and community-driven initiatives that make a positive impact on the world. A committed lifelong charity volunteer with those experiencing homelessness in London. Sabine also helped launch the design-industry equity campaign Design Can in 2019.