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Housing figures honoured in King’s Birthday Honours list
The recently retired chief executive of a housing association, a champion of self-build housing and a fleet of civil servants have been given awards in the King’s Birthday Honours list.
Bill Fullen, who was chief executive of County Durham-based Believe Housing until he retired in April, was awarded an OBE for his services to housing.
“Immensely proud to have been awarded the OBE,” he wrote on LinkedIn. “Amazing that my contribution to the sector was seen as worthy of such a great accolade. Thank you.”
Judith Common, chair of the board at Believe Housing, said: “For more than 40 years, Bill worked with passion and dedication to improve living conditions and opportunities in the north east of England.
“He has been a great ambassador for social housing and for nine years he led believe housing, and our predecessor County Durham Housing Group, by example with high ethical standards and an approachable style.
“He thoroughly deserves this recognition and we’re all delighted to see him start his retirement with such great news.”
Inside Housing recently revealed that Believe Housing has committed to an 80% reduction in operational carbon on new homes by 2025 as part of its net zero strategy.
Claude Hendrickson, founder of the Front Line Community Self Build Housing Association in Leeds, was awarded an MBE for services to community self-build housing.
The Front Line scheme in Leeds saw 12 unemployed Afro-Caribbean men and their families build new homes for themselves.
In 2016, Mr Hendrickson was commissioned to produce a 10-year strategy for Leeds City Council around self-build, custom-build and community-led housing.
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Elsewhere, Linda Cobb, principal manager of Decent and Safe Homes (DASH) at Derby City Council, was awarded an OBE for services to housing.
DASH is a joint initiative between local authorities, property owners, landlords and tenants in the East Midlands that aims to improve housing conditions, choice and management in the private sector, with particular emphasis on the private rented sector.
Several civil servants were also rewarded for their services in the honours. Norman Reid, a staff officer at Northern Ireland’s Department for Communities, was awarded an MBE for services to social housing.
Emran Mian, director general of regeneration at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), was awarded an OBE for services to regeneration.
Also at DLUHC, assistant director Ishtiaq Hussain was given an OBE for public service, while capability and performance management lead Katherine Abbott received an OBE for services to human resources and mental health.
Paul Morrison, director of the Ukraine Humanitarian Taskforce, refugee resettlement and asylum support at DLUHC, was given a CBE for services to refugees, while his colleague Lisa James was awarded an OBE for services to the Ukrainian community.
Elsewhere, housing campaigner Kwajo Tweneboa – a Clarion tenant who has led the fight to raise the profile of disrepair issues in social housing – revealed he had declined an MBE.
Writing on Twitter, he said: “I cannot accept being honoured or receiving a title off the back of an issue that should never have existed, and in saying that, I felt compelled to turn it down.
“I have written to the Prince and Princess of Wales to inform them of my decision and to also express my interest in collaborating with them to raise awareness surrounding the social issues causing needless suffering to minority groups in the UK.”
