Housing sector: appointments and changes

Housing sector: appointments and changes

Regulator of Social Housing, Homes England, Hightown and A2 Dominion

Hightown Housing Association

Qadeer Kiani OBE has been elected Chair of the Board of Hightown Housing Association.

He succeeds Bob Macnaughton who held the position since 2017 and had been a Board member for nine years.

Kani has a wealth of experience which spans over 30 years in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors. 

He now manages his own successful Housing and Management Consultancy Practice which he founded in 2007 to help social housing organisations to effectively manage their performance, people and partnerships. 

Kiani commented:  “I have a passion for customer driven housing services and making a difference to the lives of others. Therefore, I want to make sure that we can continue to deliver on Hightown’s mission of building homes and supporting people.”

A2 Dominion

A2 Dominion has appointed Graham Gregg as its new interim Director of Financial Services.

He joins from Sovereign Network Housing, where he served as Director of Accounting Services.  

Gregg has more than 20 years’ experience in the housing sector and has held a variety of finance leadership roles with Southern Housing and Network Homes.  

At A2Dominion, Gregg takes on responsibility for statutory financial reporting as well as operational finance.  

Tracey Barnes, Chief Finance Officer said: “Graham has vast experience of working in the housing sector and brings specialist knowledge of improving financial performance.  

“We look forward to working with Graham to help shape the finance function and deliver better results for our customers.”

Homes England 

Homes England has announced two leadership changes.

The government’s housing and regeneration agency has confirmed that Chair Peter Freeman and Chief Executive Peter Denton will be stepping down from their roles after four years leading the Agency together.

Peter Freeman will handover to his successor when the recruitment of a new Chair is completed later next year.

Peter Denton will be standing down from his role as Chief Executive in January 2025 with Eamonn Boylan joining the Agency as interim CEO from 15 January.

Matthew Pennycook, the Housing and Planning Minister said: ”On behalf of the government, I would like to thank Peter Freeman and Peter Denton for their leadership of the Agency over recent years. 

“Their efforts have been integral to reshaping Homes England into an effective national housing and regeneration agency that is increasingly focused on exemplary place-based regeneration and placemaking as well as new housing supply. I wish both Peters all the best in their future endeavours.”

Regulator of Social Housing

Two new non-executive directors (NEDs) have been appointed to the Board of the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH).

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, on behalf of the Deputy Prime Minister, has confirmed the appointment of John Liver and Robert Light.

The RSH undertakes regulation of providers of social housing registered with it, considering how landlords are delivering the outcomes set out in its regulatory standards.  

This is an important time for the RSH following the introduction of the strengthened consumer regulation regime in April 2024, which includes routine inspections of large social landlords. 

John Liver has been appointed as Chair of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee for a term of four years and Robert Light has been appointed as a NED for a term of three years with a focus on consumers.

Johnnie Johnson Housing to join Sanctuary

Johnnie Johnson Housing to join Sanctuary

Becoming a subsidiary will allow for more investment in both existing and new homes 

Johnnie Johnson Housing (JJH) are set to join with fellow not-for-profit housing association Sanctuary, following approval from both organisations’ Boards for JJH to become a subsidiary.

Following due diligence, the results of which were presented to the Boards for consideration, a joint announcement of the deal was made on Monday 27 November.

JJH provide affordable homes across the UK’s northern regions and currently have a portfolio of almost 5000 homes. Sanctuary, who provide housing and care across England and Scotland, own and manage around 120,000 units of accommodation.

 The completion of the merger will now be subject to obtaining the appropriate consents from the organisations’ lenders. 

Speaking about the new partnership, Sanctuary’s group chief executive Craig Moule said: “Not-for-profit housing and care providers deliver a vital public service to society – we invest in maintaining and improving housing stock, provide a security of tenure that is affordable, develop new affordable homes and deliver good-quality care.  

“There is space for organisations of any size in our sector and there are many organisations who provide excellent services to a single community, or a small number of neighbouring communities, but do not have the capacity to make significant investment in their existing homes or develop new homes.  

“As one of the largest providers in the sector, we use our size and strength to invest and develop, to be efficient, while maintaining local, community-focused services.” 

Yvonne Castle, Johnnie Johnson Housing chief executive, added: “We always look to provide the best possible service and make sure we are focused on what matters most for our residents – providing homes that they love to live in. 

“We always want to do more. We are ambitious as experts in the field of providing homes and services, including Astraline’s Technology Enabled Care, for older residents. We know that through joining Sanctuary we will be able fulfil our ambitions and invest more in our residents’ homes than we could on our own. 

“As always, the interests of our own residents and those of Sanctuary will remain our top priority.” 

Yvonne Castle will leave her role in December, with Kathryn Fox-Rogers to lead the JJH subsidiary in the role of managing director. 

Castle added: “I have built a hugely positive relationship with Craig and his colleagues over the last nine months and firmly believe the merger will benefit both organisations. It has been an absolute honour and a privilege to be JJH’s leader and I know that our residents and our colleagues are in great hands as the two organisations move forward together.” 

Magenta secures funding for more affordable homes and carbon zero goals

Magenta secures funding for more affordable homes and carbon zero goals

Magenta Living is set to build more than 1000 new affordable homes over the next five years, after securing a £137 million funding package from NatWest. The funds will also enable the Wirral-based housing association to commence its transition to being a carbon zero housing provider.

The affordable housing landlord currently owns 13,000 homes across the North West and is the largest housing association in the Wirral with more than 600 employees.

Magenta’s growth plans include carrying out maintenance work on existing homes as well as growing their portfolio to increase affordable housing levels across the region.

The funding from NatWest will also enable Magenta Living to progress its climate change strategy. This involves a 30-year commitment from the business to help tackle climate change through methods such as using electric vehicles, improving local green spaces, tackling fuel poverty and improving the energy performance of their housing portfolio.

The bank has attributed environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals to £75 million of the company’s loan facilities, helping Magenta Living to work towards the Government’s zero carbon homes target by 2050.

Ann Monk, executive director of finance at Magenta, said: “We aim to enhance local communities and help people access a better quality of life through the provision of improved homes for affordable renting.

“Ultimately, we serve local communities in the North West region by building properties that create genuine social value, and this funding package from NatWest is helping us bring this vision to life.

“The bank’s backing is assisting us as we move towards our target of becoming a carbon zero organisation by 2050 with the creation of truly sustainable properties. This will allow us to continue growing and seizing new opportunities, as well as creating new jobs and encouraging investment into the areas we serve.”

Marcos Navarro, director and sustainability lead for housing finance at NatWest, said: “We’re committed to supporting housing associations nationwide and have provided a bespoke funding package that will help Magenta Living deliver affordable and sustainable properties to individuals and families across Wirral and the wider North West.

“We’ll continue to support the company as it expands its portfolio and delivers its climate change initiative. It was rewarding to work on a deal that adds such genuine social and environmental value.

“This new funding package will not only allow Magenta Living to build sustainable and affordable homes, but it will support its transition to net zero and create local jobs, supporting economic recovery following the pandemic”

This funding package forms part of NatWest’s commitment to support the housing association sector with £3 billion by the end of 2022, to help increase the provision of social housing and enable the improvement of existing properties.