As a not for profit organisation, Seaside Homes has no shareholders and is controlled by a Board of 9 Trustees; 3 members are recruited from the local business community, 3 are council tenants and 3 are elected members of Brighton & Hove City Council.
After a career with the British Council, working mainly overseas in the fields of cultural relations and educational aid, Kevin was first elected to Brighton and Hove City Council in 1999. For the following four years he represented the former Marine ward. From 2003 until 2011 Kevin represented Preston Park. Throughout these twelve years he was involved in both housing strategy and housing management, serving also as Chair of the East Area Panel and later as Chair of the Central Area Panel. Re-elected in May 2015, again for Preston Park, Kevin is the spokesperson on the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and also sits on the Licensing Committee. In addition he represents the council on the East Sussex Pensions Board and chairs the Brighton and Hove Music Trust. Having joined the board of the Brighton Open Market Community Interest Company in July, he became Chair in September. Music is Kevin’s no. 1 passion. An active pianist, he also plays the lute. In addition he is a linguist who likes reading literature in the original, particularly German and Russian.
Chris is a retired Chartered Surveyor with more than forty five years` experience in residential and commercial property. He has a high reputation in the Social Housing sector where he worked closely with Local Authorities, Housing Associations and the main Banks and is familiar with lending procedures, legal technicalities, loan documentation and risk/performance monitoring required for multi-million pound loans for investment in social housing for rent.
Chris’s experience over the past 20 years as both a Chairman and Board Member of housing associations has given him an in-depth understanding of the issues affecting both vulnerable and financially excluded people in society. He has also served on various committees of these organisations dealing with risk, finance, regulatory compliance, housing development and property maintenance.
Chris’s current role as an Non – Executive Director of Boom Credit Union in Surrey, Kingston and West Sussex involves overseeing Compliance issues and as Money Laundering Reporting Officer. These are key roles from the point of view of the Regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
David is a community worker and housing campaigner and has lived in Brighton for 19 years. David spent 13 years as a council tenant in East London and has worked for 25 years in council housing departments. He has also been a consultant in a social enterprise delivering training for tenants on community development and housing finance. He is passionate about decent homes for all and has set up national campaigns which succeeded in changing the law to halt the privatisation of council housing and to secure more resources. Most recently he started a Living Rent Campaign to push for fair rent and more secure tenancies in private rented housing.
Mary is a successful local business woman and former leader of Brighton & Hove City Council. She was first elected to Brighton Council in 1992 and subsequently Brighton & Hove City Council following local government re-organisation in 1997. Mary has many years of housing experience having served on the Housing Committee at various times as member, Chair and Opposition Spokesperson. She was elected as leader of the council in 2008 and served in this capacity until 2011.
Mary is very active in her local community, chairing the Brighton & Hove branch of the Royal British Legion and the Rottingdean/Saltdean Local Action Team, as well as serving as a trustee for the Paley Trust and the Valley Social Centre.
Chris was a member of the Chartered Institute of Housing (South East Board) for many years and is still its lead on International housing matters. He has arranged many housing study visits, starting off with a visit to France some 24 years ago and has included study visits to the USA, Canada, South Africa, Hong Kong along with numerous European cities. He also assisted in organising the CIH’s Annual Regional Conference held in Brighton.
All bar three years of his working life has been centred in public/ private housing. Chris worked for several Local Authorities and housing partnership developers in the South East before joining Calford Seaden, a leading property services consultancy, in 2004 where he led on New Business and New Initiatives. Chris announced his retirement from April 2013 and then spent a year working for the RUND Partnership as their Business Development Consultant.
Chris has now retired but still retains his strong interest and commitment to the social housing sector. He will also be keen to continue to support both Sussex CCC and Brighton and Hove Albion. Chris lives nearby in Mid Sussex.
Mbye spent many years as a teacher and metal work instructor before later joining UN (ILO) sponsored rural vocational training programme as an instructor trainer. His passion for vocational training remains and he has been a governor of City College Brighton & Hove for the past 11 years.
Mbye took early retirement in 2009, having spent almost 10 years as an advocate for victims of racial harassment with the Community Safety Team at Brighton & Hove City Council. Over the years he has served on many local committees and is currently a member of Brighton & Hove Council Asset Management Panel as well as a Panel representative on the Repairs, Refurbishment & Improvement Strategic Partnership-Core-Group.
Mbye is also a member of BUNCH (Building new council homes), a resident assessor and a committee member of his resident association. Through his involvement with the Asset Management Panel, Mbye has acquired a wealth of knowledge in many areas of housing. He has recently been appointed as Chairman of the newly created Tenancy Scrutiny Panel of Brighton & Hove.
Phil is a fully qualified Chartered Certified Accountant, having qualified in 1996 and becoming a Fellow in 2001. In his professional career Phil has worked in both practice and industry. He qualified whilst working for Grant Thornton and his industry roles have included that of Finance Director in a multi-million pound subsidiary of a FTSE 250 listed group. He also has experience of working in the charity sector and has been running his own successful business since 2015.
Being an accountant Phil obviously loves numbers but more than that he really enjoys helping individuals and businesses fulfill their commercial potential. He has lived in Peacehaven for over fifteen years and outside of work he enjoys spending time with his family, playing golf and squash and following his football team.