Former auditor general for Scotland to head board of UK’s largest builder of social rent homes

Wheatley Housing Group has appointed Caroline Gardner as its new board chair, succeeding Jo Armstrong who will retire on 30 September.

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Caroline Gardner will become chair of Wheatley Housing Group at the end of September

Gardner was auditor general for Scotland from 2012 to 2020, with responsibility for auditing the government and reporting to parliament on more than £40 billion of public expenditure.

She has served on the Scottish landlord’s board since 2021 and is currently chair of PwC UK’s audit oversight body.

She is a fellow and past president of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and an honorary professor at the University of Glasgow. Wheatley’s new chair also holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Strathclyde.

During Armstrong’s time as chair, 94,000-home Wheatley said it “achieved some of the most significant milestones in our history”, including becoming the UK’s largest builder of social rented homes. In 2024/25, it delivered 563 homes for social rent.

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