Josephine Ozols-Riding

Josephine is the housing and health lead for the Department of Health and Social Care. Her role is principally concerned with national government policy aimed at improving the quality of new and existing housing, with a particular focus on health and climate change. She works closely with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. Her role involves building national workforce capabilities in relation to the strategies and design considerations needed to deliver healthy and sustainable homes. Another key part of her role relates to retrofit, fuel poverty, and health hazards in homes. For example, Josephine recently led the development of national guidance for housing providers on damp and mould.

Josephine regularly collaborates on research projects related to healthy and sustainable housing and provides input into housing schemes from a health perspective. She sits on the Executive Committee for the Housing Studies Association. Previously, Josephine has worked as the sustainable built and natural environment lead within the NHS and local authorities. She has significant experience bridging the gap between local authority housing and health functions and embedding health and climate change considerations into national and local policy, design codes, design reviews, and design competitions. In her spare time, she enjoys architectural photography.