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Matthew Bailes

Matthew Bailes

Chief executive
Paradigm Housing
Commercial InterestsRegulation and Governance

Biography

Matthew Bailes has served as Chief Executive of Paradigm Housing Group since September 2015. Paradigm manages over 16,000 homes and delivers 400 new properties each year.

 

Before joining Paradigm, Matthew led the Social Housing Regulator, where he introduced stress testing and in-depth assessments, and led on the Cosmopolitan case, which was one of the most challenging in the sector’s history. Previously, as a Senior Civil Servant, he played a key role in shaping affordable housing policy (2008–11) during the financial crash and a change in government.

 

Matthew chairs CASE, a network of South East housing associations.  He was appointed as a Non-Executive Director at Swan Housing Association in 2021, after it was judged to be non-compliant with the Regulator’s governance and viability standard, and chaired a committee focused on recovery until its merger with Sanctuary Housing in 2023.  He undertook a similar role at Octavia when it was downgraded in 2024.

Recent Articles

Can Labour come up with the real, outcome-focused long-term plan we need?

Can Labour come up with the real, outcome-focused long-term plan we need?

Comment02.12.24
Labour’s housebuilding plans risk being a short-sighted approach to the housing crisis, writes Matthew Bailes, chief executive of Paradigm Housing
Putting Labour to the test on housing

Putting Labour to the test on housing

Comment17.06.24
Labour’s manifesto presents more questions than it answers, but there’s still room for optimism, writes Matthew Bailes, chief executive of Paradigm Housing
The push to professionalise the sector shows shows the government’s lack of strategy on regulation

The push to professionalise the sector shows shows the government’s lack of strategy on regulation

Comment16.04.24
Armed with an array of new powers, politicians are beginning to act a bit like a bull in a china shop, writes Matthew Bailes, chief executive of Paradigm
Is shared ownership worth reforming?

Is shared ownership worth reforming?

Comment23.01.24
Shared ownership is far from a flawless system, but decreasing it would have huge financial impacts for the sector, writes Matthew Bailes, chief executive of Paradigm
Our pension system combined with our housing crisis are a ticking time bomb

Our pension system combined with our housing crisis are a ticking time bomb

Comment11.12.23
A double whammy of low pension savings and high numbers in the private rented sector heads inexorably in one direction: a huge increase in the number of pensioners in poverty, writes Matthew Bailes
Let’s take a leaf out of Gordon Brown’s book and take rent-setting out of the hands of politicians

Let’s take a leaf out of Gordon Brown’s book and take rent-setting out of the hands of politicians

Comment18.10.23
If the politicians are in charge, they will make short-term choices that are driven by political benefits, not what’s best for social housing, writes Matthew Bailes
What’s the point in sub-market rents?

What’s the point in sub-market rents?

Comment16.10.23
Matthew Bailes breaks down why the UK’s sub-market rents are not achieving their societal aims, and what the government needs to do
What will the next government inherit?

What will the next government inherit?

Comment20.09.23
Demographic changes and political decision-making have left our economy in a dire state. Matthew Bailes asks, where does that leave the next government?