My friend Peter Archer, who has died aged 80, bettered the lives of many people by improving housing conditions and regenerating neighbourhoods from inner city Bristol to New Delhi. He combined a strategic vision with a belief that communities should have a voice in decisions that affect their lives.
One of Peter’s greatest achievements was his establishment in 1986 of Care and Repair England, a project designed to help older and disabled people to continue to live independently by improving their existing housing conditions. He chaired the charity for 20 years and would later (in 2010) rewrite UK government guidance on home adaptations for disabled people.
Born and raised in Bromley, Kent, Peter came from a family with a strong Methodist background. Public service was in his blood: his father, Harold, was a public health inspector and his mother, Evelyn (nee Smart), was a teacher.
Educated at Kent college, Canterbury, Archer qualified as an environmental health officer at the London borough of Croydon in 1968 before working in West Bromwich and Birmingham. Moving to Bristol in 1985 as divisional director for housing with the city council, he transformed its approach to inner city decay. Group repair projects were introduced to rescue older homes, with whole terraces were improved as one project in “enveloping” schemes. He set up an empty homes register and a licensing and regulation system of the city’s bed and breakfast accommodation.
Leaving local government in 1996, Peter established the Regeneration and Housing Services consultancy, whose clients included the New Delhi metropolitan council. A director of Homelessness International since 1989, he represented the UK Chartered Institute of Environmental Health on the International Federation of Environmental Health from 2001, serving as president from 2016 to 2018.
In 2015, with Chris Watson, he formed the Healthier Housing Partnership, a body of housing and environmental experts that promotes the building of healthier housing. It celebrated its 10th anniversary in April with an international conference on the impact of climate change on health and housing.
At home in Stourport, Worcestershire, Peter set up and ran the local Methodist cub and scout group for many years. He chaired several local organisations, ran community events and edited the parish magazine.
Living in a rectory, he put care and repair to use on the Grade I Norman church next door. His special pleasure lay in winding the church clock twice weekly.
In 1968 he married Hilary Price, a social worker. She survives him, along with their daughters Sally and Chloe, son Toby and eight grandchildren.
