The Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) is the professional body for those working in the housing profession in the United Kingdom. It has a

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...

, gained in 1984. Currently CIH has over 17,000 members, mostly in the UK but also overseas, notably in Hong Kong. CIH's current Chief Executive is Gavin Smart.

History

The CIH traces its organisational roots back to the philanthropic work carried out by pioneers such as

Octavia Hill Octavia Hill (3December 183813August 1912) was an English Reform movement, social reformer and founder of the National Trust. Her main concern was the welfare of the inhabitants of cities, especially London, in the second half of the nineteent ...

, in response to the revelation of the appalling housing conditions endured by much of the population in the 1884–1885 Royal Commission on the Housing of Working Classes. Hill established a method of letting properties on short-term tenancies and trained a group of women to manage the properties by collecting rents and dealing with repairs and tenants' welfare issues. The Association of Women Housing Workers, founded in 1916, carried on this pioneering work and housing advocate Irene Barclay was a leading figure in it. The organisation changed its name to the Society of Housing Managers in 1948. The Institute of Housing was founded in 1931 by a group of local government offices in the West Midlands, who also developed a housing qualification and published the first edition of ''Housing'' magazine. The two merged in 1965 to form the Institute of Housing Managers. The organisation was renamed the Institute of Housing in 1974 and its royal charter was granted in 1984. Following this, in 1994 it changed its name to the Chartered Institute of Housing. In 1999, CIH merged with the Institute of Rent Officers.

CIH Today

CIH's Head Office is in

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

, West Midlands, with smaller offices in London, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast, and overseas offices in Hong Kong and Toronto. Alongside its services to members it produces training, publications, conferences and seminars to organisations, members and non-members. CIH works with universities to develop housing qualifications, and provides distance learning courses. CIH's annual conference is held every June, moving to Manchester from 2012 following several years of being held in

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and civil parish in the North Yorkshire District, district and North Yorkshire, county of North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist de ...

. The conference includes an extensive exhibition and also hosts CIH's AGM.

References

External links

Chartered Institute of Housing

Housing Housing refers to a property containing one or more Shelter (building), shelter as a living space. Housing spaces are inhabited either by individuals or a collective group of people. Housing is also referred to as a human need and right to ...

Public housing in the United Kingdom Housing in the United Kingdom 1916 establishments in the United Kingdom 1931 establishments in the United Kingdom Housing rights organizations in the United Kingdom Organisations based in Coventry {{UK-org-stub