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West Midlands landlord appoints ex-housing minister as new chair
A West Midlands housing association has appointed former housing minister Lord Ian Austin as its new board chair.
Birmingham-based Midland Heart announced the former Labour MP for Dudley North will replace John Edwards, who has served as the association’s chair since 2014.
According to the 34,000-home landlord, Lord Austin will take over in September and will attend board meetings as an observer until then.
Lord Austin served as housing minister under Gordon Brown. He quit the party in 2019, which was then under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, to become an independent MP.
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He stood down as an MP at the 2019 general election and was appointed to the House of Lords in 2020.
Lord Austin currently serves as a non-executive director at Homes England and as the prime minster’s trade envoy to Israel. He also advises RCL Partners, the Richardson family investment business.
The landlord said Lord Austin’s new role was a “return to his roots”, as he previously worked for Focus Housing, one of the organisations which merged to create Midland Heart in 2006.
Midland Heart said it was completing the process of recruiting three further board positions and will announce successful candidates in due course.
Outgoing chair Mr Edwards is stepping down as he will have served a maximum nine-year term in post this September.
Mr Edwards is the former chief executive of Advantage West Midlands and the Rural Development Commission, chair of the Dudley Group of Hospitals and was awarded a CBE for services to the rural economy in 2008.
Glenn Harris, chief executive of Midland Heart, said: “On behalf of everyone at Midland Heart, I congratulate Lord Austin on successfully being appointed as our next chair. Through his time as housing minister, his role with Homes England and having worked for one of our legacy organisations, Ian has seen all sides of the housing sector and understands the importance of making every single home a decent, safe and secure place to live.”
Lord Austin said: “I am delighted to have been appointed the next chair of Midland Heart, one of the region’s and country’s leading housing providers.
“John, Glenn, the current board and executive team, alongside all other members of Midland Heart staff, have done a fantastic job of steering our organisation through significant challenges, including a four-year rent cut, and are ahead of other housing associations on the challenges of the future, having delivered the UK’s first homes to meet the government’s Future Homes Standard and undertaken significant retrofit work to their older homes.”
Mr Edwards said: “It is important that, having had a long period of stability on the board of Midland Heart, we make the changes we need in a thorough and well-planned way.
“Having worked alongside Ian when he was a minister and I ran our regional development agency, I know he will bring a great understanding of the sector and provide strong stewardship for the organisation.”
