One to watch – Kerry Clayton, governance and compliance manager at Elderpark Housing

Insight09.02.237.00 AM by Jess Mccabe

Kerry Clayton is the latest interviewee for Inside Housing’s series on the next generation of housing leaders. Kerry was recommended by Duncan Smith, a board member at Elderpark Housing

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Kerry Clayton @ElderparkHA is the latest interviewee for @insidehousing’s series on the next generation of #UKhousing leaders

Tell us about your job.

My role is to ensure we have high-quality governance processes and robust compliance practices in place across the organisation. This requires me to have an in-depth knowledge of governance and compliance areas within my remit to enable me to provide expert advice to the senior management team and management committee. I have to keep up to date with regulatory and legislative changes.

I also co-ordinate and oversee our data collection and benchmarking processes to help drive improvements in service delivery across the organisation and contribute to policy, strategy and business planning.

When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a child psychologist. I studied psychology at college and worked in childcare early years settings for a few years. I eventually decided this wasn’t the career for me, but continued to be fascinated by psychology. I now use this to help me understand my environment better in a leadership context.

Tell us about how you first came to work in housing.

I was temping through an agency and was invited to attend an interview for an association to fill a temporary role as a corporate services administrator. Early on, I realised it was the career for me, as housing presented so many options in terms of roles and I became very passionate about the sector and the outcomes it sets out to achieve.

Achieving my master’s degree in housing studies. I found out I was expecting my daughter, Lily, just as I was at the research stage of my dissertation. Throughout this period I was absolutely exhausted and generally unwell, but the support and encouragement I was given pushed me to finish my studies.

And what has been your hardest moment?

Transitioning into my current role during lockdown was a massive challenge. I had been working as a housing officer and applied for this role. My interview was carried out remotely, which in itself was difficult, and then moving into a brand new role while at home and not able to fully interact with my colleagues was challenging.

Who has been the most important person who has helped your career so far, and why?

My husband, Grant Clayton, who is deputy director at West Whitlawburn Housing Co-operative. Grant interviewed me for the corporate services administrator role that started me on my career journey, and his passion and enthusiasm for the housing sector was infectious.

Since the beginning, Grant has been a constant source of strength and support – always willing to share his knowledge to help my learning and pushing me to be my very best and pursue my career to the fullest.

If you could change one thing about the sector, what would it be?

I would like to change the stigma attached to social housing. Unfortunately, this still very much exists and has been demonstrated through various pieces of research on the subject. A statistic from a recent survey by Places for People Scotland showed that around 32% of respondents think social housing is of a poor quality.

This stigma undermines the excellent work the sector does and promotes social exclusion for those living in our communities. Although work is ongoing to address this, I think as a sector we could still do more.

One to Watch series

Picture: Getty

In our ‘one to watch’ series, we speak to up-and-coming housing leaders. They discuss their job, how they got to where they are and their ambitions for the future.

We aim to feature staff from across the sector.

Click here to nominate yourself or a colleague for inclusion

One to Watch series:

Alicia Walker – head of policy, research and campaigns at Centrepoint

Matthew Beetar – equality, diversity and inclusion specialist at Accent Group

Morgan Lynch – assistant development and delivery manager at Home Group

Rosalyn Springer – partnership manager (social value) at MTVH

Andreia Pinto – senior customer care co-ordinator at L&G Affordable Homes

Chris Collins – homeownership officer at Hightown

Tasmin Ross – HR officer at River Clyde Homes

Kerry Clayton – governance and compliance manager at Elderpark Housing

Eden Bailey – senior head of housing services, Hft