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Homes England director exits to take new Birmingham City Council role
A senior Homes England executive is leaving the agency to join Birmingham City Council as part of a restructuring of the local authority’s top team.
Paul Kitson, who is Homes England’s interim executive director of markets, partners and places, is taking the newly created role of strategic director of place, prosperity and sustainability at Europe’s largest local authority.
Mr Kitson took on his current Homes England role in March, following a management reshuffle in the wake of the sudden exit of Nick Walkley, the agency’s chief executive.
Before that, Mr Kitson was the agency’s director for high-growth areas and new settlements and spent 10 years at the Homes and Communities Agency, the precursor to Homes England.
He is the second senior executive to announce his departure since Mr Walkley left. Last month it emerged that Stephen Kinsella, the chief land and development officer, is leaving to rejoin Barratt. Mr Kinsella has also been appointed as chair of Cobalt, the Liverpool housing association.
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At Birmingham City Council, Mr Kitson will be among a number of new senior figures responsible for overseeing a new long-term strategy for the city.
A report published by the council last year on the strategy said: “We face significant ongoing risks and challenges that must be addressed. Unchecked, the financial sustainability of the council is threatened. Moreover, the fortunes of the people of Birmingham could suffer. There is a pressing need to act.”
Mr Kitson, who also worked for housing association Moat earlier in his career, said: “Birmingham City Council has a really clear vision of how new development and regeneration of places can benefit the whole of the city, helping to provide new places to work, live and play in, whilst also bringing significant new employment to the city.
“I feel privileged to be joining the leader and chief executive in helping them bring that vision to life, and I look forward to working with everyone who shares that ambition.”
Last month it emerged that the council receives 500 applications from households looking to join its housing waiting list every week.
Richard Brooks, a former strategy director at Ofsted and senior policy adviser at the then Department for Children, Schools and Families, is also joining the council as director of strategy, equality and partnerships.
