David Ormandy, who has died aged 78, was responsible as much as anyone for the adoption 20 years ago of the housing health and safety rating system (HHSRS), a legal method of assessing housing conditions in England and Wales.
Co-designed by Ormandy and introduced by the 2004 Housing Act, it shifted the assessment of fitness away from the condition of the property itself and more on to the effects of poor housing on residents’ health – which costs the NHS £1.4bn a year.
