Eastlight chief executive appointed as government’s accessible housing ambassador

The chief executive of Eastlight Community Homes has taken on a new role as the government’s disability and access ambassador for housing.

Emma Palmer was appointed by Stephen Timms, minister for social security and disability, to encourage the housing sector to improve prospects for people with disabilities.

In this voluntary role, Palmer will work with a range of stakeholders, including local authorities, housing associations, private developers, contractors, suppliers and agents to highlight good practice, challenge inaccessible design and service delivery and contribute to the development of inclusive policy.

Palmer joins 20 other senior leaders on the disability and access ambassador programme, led by the Office for Equality and Opportunity’s disability unit. The initiative is part of the government’s wider efforts to create a more inclusive society for disabled people.

Timms said: “The disability and access ambassadors help us to improve all disabled people’s lives by using their experience and insight throughout their sectors and supporting the changes in accessibility we want to see across a wide range of private sector industries.”

As well as leading Eastlight, which owns 14,600 homes across the east of England, Palmer also sits on the board of 38,000-home housing association A2Dominion.

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She said: “Every part of the housing sector – whether social, public or private – plays a vital role in shaping the environments we live in. Homes and communities must work for everyone, and that includes being accessible and inclusive by design.”

In 2023, Eastlight became a founding partner of disability inclusion organisation Purple, which aims to improve the disabled customer experience.

The ambassador programme will run for one year initially, with the option for a further two-year extension.