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Ex-THFC boss starts role as Sustainability for Housing chair
The former chief executive of The Housing Finance Corporation (THFC) has officially begun a new role as chair of Sustainability for Housing (SfH).
Piers Williamson was appointed in August and formally inducted as chair at SfH’s September board meeting.
SfH is the organisation that oversees the Sustainability Reporting Standard for Social Housing (SRS).
“At a time when many housing associations are dealing with a combination of retrofit, carbon neutrality and tenant fuel poverty, along with other social pressures, ESG, and the SRS promoted by SfH, is a vital lens for them,” Mr Williamson said.
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Social landlords are able to use the tool to benchmark their progress against other organisations and show external stakeholders evidence of their work in sustainability.
“We’ve witnessed incredible commitment and progress over recent years, with more than 100 housing providers and funders having adopted the SRS as a benchmark to measure, report and enhance their ESG performance,” he added.
Sarah Forster, chief executive and co-founder of The Good Economy, which is SfH’s secretariat, said: “With a proven track record for driving progress in both the social housing and financial housing sectors, Piers has a wealth of experience and will make a great new chair of the board.”
His appointment came after outgoing chair Brendan Sarsfield said in June that he was stepping down after three years in post.
Earlier this year, Mr Williamson left his role as chief executive of THFC after 22 years in charge at the bond aggregator.
At the time, he said: “Even after 22 eventful years, never a day goes by when I do not learn more about these fascinating organisations and how they change people’s lives for the better. I hope I will be able to stay engaged in some capacity over the years to come.”
During his time at THFC, the group’s loan book grew to more than £8bn and the organisation created its sustainable bond framework as well as THFC Sustainable Finance, a vehicle aimed at helping housing associations tackle net zero targets.
He was replaced as chief executive by Priya Nair. She has more than 25 years’ experience in financial services and joins from Abrdn Investment Management, where she was senior director of infrastructure.
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