You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
The chair of a Yorkshire-based housing charity has been voted in as the new vice-president of the Chartered Institute for Housing (CIH) in what the body called a “close-run” election.
Lara Oyedele, chair of Bradford-based charity Hope Housing, beat rivals Jill Haley and Chan Kataria after receiving 40% of the votes cast.
Ms Oyedele, who is also on the board of Housing 21, will join the presidential team after the CIH’s annual general meeting in December and hold the role alongside newly appointed president Jo Richardson.
The new vice-president began her housing career in the 1990s, first as a housing officer in Hammersmith before moving to Notting Hill Housing Trust.
Later, Ms Oyedele was chief executive of Odu-Dua Housing Association for eight years between 2006 and 2014. During that time, she also spent four years as chair of BME National.
Responding to her victory, Ms Oyedele said: “I am honoured and delighted to have been elected as the next vice-president of CIH. I want to thank the other candidates, Chan and Jill, for keeping me on my toes during the campaign.
“My mission is to repay your confidence by working as hard as I can so that CIH truly reflects the diversity of the housing sector with strengthened reach and with even more value for our members. For now, I can’t wait to get started by supporting Jo Richardson’s presidency and her Homeful campaign.”
Geraldine Howley, chair of the CIH governing board, said: “It was great to see the commitment and enthusiasm for CIH from all three of our vice-presidential candidates – Jill and Chan should be extremely proud of the effort they put into their campaigns.
“I’d like to thank all of the CIH members who took the time to vote. We look forward to working with Lara when she becomes vice-president in December.”