Giles Peaker, a housing lawyer who believed the law could be used to improve the rights of tenants and homeless people, has died suddenly at the age of 60.
Career and Impact
Qualifying as a solicitor in 2008 after a first career as a lecturer in art history, Peaker rose from paralegal to partner at Anthony Gold Solicitors in London in just seven years. He founded the Nearly Legal website and blog in 2005, producing around 3,500 posts over 20 years. The blog became a public institution with a large readership of legal professionals and helped ordinary people by guiding them and answering questions.
Through the blog, Peaker met Karen Buck, then Labour MP for Westminster North. Together, they pushed forward the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018, which gave tenants the right to a dry, warm, and safe home.
Early Life and Education
Born in London to Anne (née Burton), a teacher and advocate for the arts in the criminal justice system, and Geoffrey Peaker, a schools inspector, the family moved to Leicestershire in the early 1970s. Peaker attended Lutterworth Grammar School before earning a BA in the history of modern art, design, and film at Newcastle Polytechnic. He then gained an MA in the social history of art at the University of Leeds.
Academic and Legal Career
Peaker began lecturing at the University of Derby in 1993, where he met Beth Batchelor; they married in 2003. Dissatisfied with academia and driven by a desire to make a difference, he retrained as a solicitor in 2005, studying at City University and the College of Law in London before joining Anthony Gold as a trainee in the housing and property disputes department.
During his career, Peaker led the Housing Law Practitioners' Association and was involved in at least five Supreme Court cases. He worked equally at the county court level, giving every client the same attention and clear advice. He co-authored Housing Conditions: Tenants' Rights (2019), made numerous media appearances, lectured, and provided training for legal professionals.
Personal Life
Immensely intelligent, Peaker was guided by truth and compassion. Despite taking his work seriously, he had a keen sense of the ridiculous. Driven by conviction, he never stopped working but maintained balance through a home office and time in his garden with Beth. He is survived by his wife Beth, and siblings Owen and Kate.
