Brendan Sarsfield joins non-compliant G15 landlord, along with former Keepmoat CEO Dave Sheridan

Notting Hill Genesis (NHG) has appointed Brendan Sarsfield as its new chair, pending shareholder approval.

brendan sarsfield peabody

Well-known housing leader Brendan Sarsfield will take over as chair of NHG in September

The 67,000-home association, which is currently rated non-compliant by the Regulator of Social Housing, confirmed the appointment of the former Peabody and Family Mosaic chief executive this morning.

Sarsfield will succeed Ian Ellis who stands down in September having served his agreed term of office.

NHG also announced the appointment of another well-known housing name to its board.

Dave Sheridan, chair of Groundworks, former chair of Ilke Homes and chief executive of Keepmoat, will join as chair of its homes sub-committee, succeeding Richard Powell.

Patrick Franco, chief executive of NHG, said: “There are few who have greater knowledge and experience of the housing sector than Brendan and he is perfectly placed to support us on our journey back to regulatory compliance and help us meet our key priority of improving services to our residents.

“Dave’s understanding of housing development and regeneration will be of huge benefit to our new committee and ensure expert oversight of our efforts to invest over £770m in our homes over the next decade, while still developing affordable homes.”

The appointments come at a difficult time for NHG.

NHG is continuing to work on an improvement plan after being downgraded to a non-compliant ‘G3’ governance grade by the Regulator of Social Housing in November. A regulatory inspection found issues of concern with its business planning and risk and control frameworks that led to ‘poor outcomes’ for tenants. It was also awarded a ‘C3’ rating against the consumer standards, meaning it is failing to meet outcomes and needs to improve.

In April it agreed an 11-point action plan to improve. Last week NHG said “good progress is being made” with the plans, which are being overseen by new board member, Léann Hearne, the outgoing chief executive of Merseyside landlord Livv Housing Group.

The group also last week reported a deficit of £129m for 2024/25, which follows a £90.2m deficit the previous year.

The G15 landlord was hit by losses to the value of private rental properties, new building safety costs, writedowns and cost overruns.

In May a coroner also opened an inquest into the death of a baby boy in flat managed by the housing association.

Akram Mohammed died in February and an inquest at St Pancras Coroner’s Court is looking into the circumstances of his death.

Mohammed’s father has told media outlet LBC that in his opinion damp and mould contributed to Akram’s death. The inquest has been adjourned until 15 August.