Giles Peaker obituary

My friend Giles Peaker, who has died of cancer aged 60, was a housing lawyer whose work had a lasting and positive impact on the lives of many people. Qualifying in 2008, after a first career as a lecturer in art history, Giles went from paralegal to partner at the London law firm Anthony Gold Solicitors in just seven years. He believed – and proved – that the law can be used to improve the rights of tenants and homeless people. In 2005, Giles founded the Nearly Legal website and blog, producing around 3,500 posts in 20 years. It became a public institution, with a huge readership of legal professionals, and also allowed Giles to help ordinary people, guiding them and answering questions. The blog was where he met Karen Buck, then Labour MP for Westminster North. Together they pushed forward the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018, giving tenants the right to have a dry, warm and safe home. Giles was born in London to Anne (nee Burton), who worked as teacher and advocate for the arts within the criminal justice system, and Geoffrey Peaker, a schools inspector. The family moved to Leicestershire in the early 1970s and Giles went to Lutterworth grammar school, before studyi