Partner Article

Northern Housing Consortium appoints new chair and board members

A new chair and four new board members have been appointed by the Northern Housing Consortium. They will support the organisation’s mission to be the voice of the North and make sure everyone has access to good quality home they can afford.
 
Charlie Norman, Chief Executive of Mosscare St Vincent's Housing Group (MSV) takes on the role of Chair, replacing outgoing Chair, Paul Fiddaman, Chief Executive of Karbon Homes. Chair of Outward Housing and Newlon Housing board member, and former Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) civil servant Jane Everton CBE will step up to be Vice Chair.
 
Rachael Dennis, Chief Executive of Incommunities; Tracy Gordon, Lead Officer for Housing partnerships at the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority; Steve Hepworth, Chief Executive of Ongo Homes; and Noel Sharpe, Group Chief Executive Officer of Bolton at Home, all take on the role of board members.
 
Northern Housing Consortium’s Chief Executive, Tracy Harrison, welcomed the new board members, saying: “We feel incredibly lucky to be able to appoint such an experienced and knowledgeable group of people, who bring with them many years of expertise from the housing, environmental sustainability and public sectors.
 
“They begin their new roles at an exciting time, as our new government continues to prioritise housing. Every board member’s expertise is valuable, as we support our member organisations to work in partnership with government to deliver real change for communities across the North. They will also play a key role in supporting our new corporate plan which will launch in spring 2025.”
 
She added: “I’ve worked with Charlie for several years now and know she will bring a wealth of knowledge, expertise and enthusiasm to the role of Chair. I’d also like to thank Paul Fiddaman for his leadership and support over the past four years.  I know we will continue to work with him closely.”
 
 Charlie Norman, who previously held the position of vice chair and a member of the Board for 5 years, has worked in the housing sector for over 30 years, both across the North West of England and in Vancouver, Canada. She has a background in community and co-operative development, neighbourhood management, supported housing and regeneration, and is Chair of the Greater Manchester Housing Providers Partnership.
 
Charlie said: “The NHC is a unique organisation bringing together housing associations, local authorities and combined authorities from across the North. It’s a fantastic vehicle for sharing different perspectives, collaborating and learning from each other – that feels more important than ever.
 
“I’m honoured to become Chair at such a crucial time, working with a fantastic Board and the wonderful team at NHC. The NHC has been right to prioritise regeneration and green homes and jobs in the North, and there is an opportunity to increase our influence with the new government. Devolution in the North is growing which is driving even more partnership working and will hopefully help target investment where it’s needed most.”
 
New Vice Chair, Jane Everton, joined the NHC Board in 2022. She had a long career as a senior civil servant in Whitehall including leading MHCLG's social housing division, as well as working on areas such as the private rented sector and planning. She was awarded a CBE for public service in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in June 2015.
 
New board member, Rachael Dennis, has been chief executive at Incommunities since February 2021 and has more than 20 years of senior experience in housing. She has a background in strategic leadership, delivering change and business improvement, strategic finance and governance.
 
Tracy Gordon brings almost 30 years’ experience in the public sector, covering both environmental sustainability and housing. Tracy joined Liverpool City Region Combined Authority in 2019 and has established several new build and retrofit housing programmes, overseeing the housing element of the Net Zero Carbon plan and leading the North West Net Zero Hub.
 
 Chief Executive of Ongo Homes, Steve Hepworth, has more than 30 years of experience in social housing and has worked at Ongo since 2007, taking on the role of Chief Executive in 2018. Whilst working for North Lincolnshire Council, he led the team responsible for consultation with tenants that resulted in the formation of North Lincolnshire Homes and the transfer of 10,000 homes from the council.
 
And Noel Sharpe has been working in social housing in the North West at an executive level for over 20 years, working in London for 10 years before that. She has a keen interest in the relationship between health, wellbeing and good quality homes, and is also currently vice Chair of the Greater Manchester Housing Partnership.
 
The new members, along with the existing nine members of the board, will play a key role in shaping Northern Housing Consortium’s new corporate plan, which will launch in spring 2025.
 
Find out more about Northern Housing Consortium’s board members at www.northern-consortium.org.uk/about-northern-housing-consortium/our-board/.
 

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Nina Walton .