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GreenSquareAccord appoints board chair
Housing association GreenSquareAccord (GSA) has appointed a new board chair.
Colin Dennis will take over from outgoing chair Robin Bailey later this month, the 25,000-home landlord said.
Mr Dennis spent nine years as board chair of Coventry-based housing association Citizen and has previously taken on several non-executive director and chair roles in the social housing and health sectors. He has decades of financial experience, GSA said.
His term as chair will initially run for three years, the landlord said, leading oversight of the organisation, working with GSA’s chief executive Ruth Cooke and other senior leaders to deliver services for residents.
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Outgoing chair Mr Bailey will step down from the role following a three-year term. He was chair of GreenSquare prior to the 2021 merger with Accord that created GSA.
Mr Dennis said: “I was familiar with GSA through my time at Citizen and work with the Matrix Housing Partnership. So, when I saw the advert for board chair I simply had to apply.”
He continued: “With a chronic shortage of social homes, the cost of living crisis and an ageing population, the challenges that GSA and our sector faces are great. But this brings home to us our social purpose and with determined colleagues we can contribute towards addressing the housing and social care need within the Midlands and South West.”
Chief executive Ms Cooke said: “Colin joins GSA as board chair at a very exciting time. Following our recent in-depth assessment and upgrade to G1 by the Regulator for Social Housing, we are focused on delivering our ambitious new Simpler, Stronger, Better five-year strategy.
“I am looking forward to working closely with Colin, the wider board and our executive team to ensure the successful delivery of our business strategy, which will see a transformational change in the level of investment in our homes and services.”
GSA’s housing portfolio spans the Midlands from Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Herefordshire and Wales to Wiltshire. It is headquartered in Chippenham.
Last year the housing association came 36th in Inside Housing’s list of the top 50 biggest builders of 2023. GSA completed 451 homes in 2022-23, 24 of which were for social rent.
Last month, GSA’s credit rating was downgraded by Moody’s from an A3 to a Baa1 due to its high debt combined with low profitability and interest coverage ratios.
In September, the Housing Ombudsman launched a special investigation into the landlord after making six several maladministration findings over three different cases.
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