Trade body for Welsh landlords appoints new chair

He wrote on Linkedin: “I am very happy to share that I started as chair at Community Housing Cymru this month. I am looking forward to working with the team to support our members and partners across the sector in Wales.”

Mr Oakley completed his bachelor’s degree at the University of Wales in Cardiff and spent nearly nine years at Vodafone, where he led the telecoms company’s construction and real estate strategy.

He moved to house builder Barratt Developments and then became managing director of Pennant Homes, a Welsh developer.

In 2011 he entered the social housing sector, moving to Coastal Housing Group as executive director of development, before spending more than five years as managing director of Curo Homes, the housing association’s private housebuilding business. He joined Platform in 2020.

Earlier this month, Welsh housing minister Jayne Bryant told the CHC annual conference that she would create a social rent policy that “works for Wales”.

A sector-wide consultation on Wales’ future social rent policy will be carried out next summer.

In May, CHC welcomed four new commercial partners: Lovell Partnerships, RLH Architectural, Quantum Advisory and Barcud Shared Services.

The four new firms join CHC’s existing seven partners. These are: Centrus, Travis Perkins, Broadleaf Professional, the Communities & Housing Investment Consortium, Hugh James, Gallagher and Utility Aid.