Housing Moves: our round-up of senior sector appointments in May 2024

Metropolitan Thames Valley has announced Mel Barrett as its new chief executive, following Geeta Nanda’s decision to step down. Mr Barrett joins from Nottingham City Council, where he has been chief executive since September 2020.

Vicky McDermott has been appointed as Newcastle City Council’s new housing and communities director, as the council brings housing and housing services under its direct control. Previously Ms McDermott held the role of investigation and enforcement at the Regulator of Social Housing.

Lampton Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of the London Borough of Hounslow, has announced the appointment of Alan Townshend as interim group managing director, as Martin Cresswell steps back into the role of chair. Mr Townshend’s previous roles include chief executive at Southern Housing, where he led the business merger with Optivo, and most recently interim managing director for HTS Group, the commercial company owned by Harlow Council.

Alison Dean has been appointed chief executive of Great Places, replacing Matthew Harrison in July. Ms Dean has been with the organisation since 1997, and held the role of deputy chief executive since 2022.

Southway Housing Trust has announced John Bowker as its new chief executive, replacing Karen Mitchell on her retirement. Mr Bowker is currently executive director of operations at Stockport Homes Group.

Mark Lowe has been announced as director of finance and resources at Wirral Methodist Housing Association. Most recently Mr Lowe was director of finance and resources at Capital Letters.

Your Housing Group has made two internal promotions to its senior team. Aaron Hammersley has been promoted to interim director of housing and customer services, from his role as head of housing. And Jo Hough has been promoted to the new role of director of human resources from the role of head of HR and learning and development.

Tracy Aldrich has been permanently appointed assistant director for housing and property services at North Kesteven District Council, after holding the post in interim since April 2023. She takes over the post from Michael Gadd, who moved to Lafford Homes, the council’s wholly owned housing company.

Iva Todorova has been appointed as Look Ahead’s new director of finance. Ms Todorova was previously assistant director of finance at A2Dominion.

James Lomas has started as head of finance at Eastlight Community Homes. Mr Lomas was previously head of financial accounting at CHP.

BPHA has appointed Jeff Halliwell as the new chair of the board, taking over full duties from Paul Leinster in September. 

Two Rivers Housing has announced Ted Pearson as its new chair, replacing Yvonne Leishman at the end of her term in October. Mr Pearson has served on the board since 2019, and was previously director of strategic asset management at Orbit.

A2Dominion has appointed Emma Palmer and Paul Fiddaman to its group board. Ms Palmer is chief executive of Eastlight Community Homes and Mr Fiddaman is chief executive of Karbon Homes.