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Bankrupt council names permanent housing director as department faces huge cuts
A large West Midlands council that recently declared itself bankrupt has appointed a permanent strategic housing director to lead the department as it faces huge budget cuts.
Birmingham City Council has announced that Paul Langford, who has been interim strategic director of city housing since 2022, has now been given the role on a permanent basis.
Mr Langford takes up the position amid a challenging time for the authority after it issued a Section 114 notice earlier this month, effectively declaring itself bankrupt over a £760m equal pay bill.
It emerged this week that the housing department will have to slash 28% from its £25m budget – equating to £7m – while about £5m to £5.5m of savings have been identified so far.
Speaking at a council committee meeting, Mr Langford described the savings needed as “significant” and said they would not be without impact in terms of the service the local authority delivers.
Mr Langford, who started his career in the private sector before moving into working with local authorities, joined Birmingham Council after spending 10 years at Southwark Council in south London.
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Commenting on his appointment, Mr Langford said he was “looking forward” to the challenges ahead.
He added: “It’s been good to see the progress that Birmingham City Council’s housing directorate has made in the short time I have been here.
“Our residents deserve the very best standards from us, and so I am looking forward to building upon the progress that has been made.
“There remains a lot of significant work to be done, but we are moving things in the right direction.”
Jayne Francis, cabinet member for housing and homelessness at Birmingham Council, added: “Over the past six months, we have put in a new senior leadership team within the city housing directorate. Paul’s appointment is the last of these, and I know we have the right person to take the directorate forward in the months and years to come.
“He brings over 20 years of experience in chief officer and strategic director roles covering housing, regeneration, planning, community safety and a broad range of front-line resident services.”
With a portfolio of more than 60,000 homes, Birmingham is the largest council landlord in England, and over the past year the authority has faced intense scrutiny over the quality of its properties and service.
In May, the authority was issued with a regulatory notice by the Regulator of Social Housing, after it found thousands of overdue fire, electrical and asbestos safety checks, while 39% of its social homes did not meet the Decent Homes Standard.
The regulator launched an investigation into Birmingham’s compliance with consumer standards following a scathing special report by the Housing Ombudsman on the council in January.
In response, Mr Langford and Deborah Cadman, chief executive of Birmingham Council, said the authority was “determined to address these issues quickly and have already developed a robust action plan to monitor and track improvements in an efficient way”.
They added: “As a council, we take the safety of our tenants very seriously and understand that the way in which these areas have been managed do not meet the standards expected by our tenants.”
