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Sir Michael Lyons steps down as chair of Blackstone-backed provider
The chair of Sage Partnerships, an affordable housing provider owned by private equity giant Blackstone, is to step down after less than a year in the role, Inside Housing can reveal.
Sir Michael Lyons, who was named as chair of Sage Partnerships during its launch in October last year, has now stepped down from his role and the company’s board to “concentrate on other responsibilities”.
Sage Partnerships said that Sir Michael had been brought in to help with the set-up and approach of the organisation, and this work has now been completed. It added that there was no need for an immediate replacement.
Sage Partnerships was set up last year as the sister organisation of Sage Housing with plans to finance the delivery of new social and affordable developments in the UK by partnering with landowners and developers.
Sage Housing, which Blackstone bought a stake in in January 2018, bids for affordable units through Section 106 agreements with private developers.
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Sir Michael said it was a special opportunity to work with Blackstone and Regis and establish Sage Partnerships, and he looks forward to seeing the organisation make a significant contribution to the affordable housing market in the future.
He is currently the chair of the English Cities Fund, a joint venture development vehicle between Homes England, Legal & General and Muse Developments that delivers large-scale urban regeneration schemes.
He previously spent four years as the chair of the BBC Trust, as well as authoring the high-profile Lyons Housing Review. The Labour-initiated review, which was published in 2014, set an ambitious aim of building 200,000 homes a year, called for the creation of a new homes corporation and demanded more money be given to fund infrastructure projects that would unlock new developments.
In an interview with Inside Housing about the new Sage Partnerships venture in October, Sir Michael said: “Essentially, we’ll be looking for folks who’ve got land, have got ambition to provide affordable housing, but actually might lack the finance to do that, or might want to bring together a more complex partnership, which requires retaining more expensive, professional skills. That’s where we fit in.”
He also said there was “no cap” on the amount of investment Blackstone would be able to put into the venture.
The news of Sir Michael’s departure comes weeks after Rod Cahill, the former chief executive of Catalyst, was brought in as Sage Housing’s interim chief executive after the departure of Joe Cook, who set up the Sage Housing as a registered provider.
Sage Housing currently has a pipeline of 8,000 new homes and plans to deliver 20,000 homes over five years.
