David Orr becomes chair of Clarion’s housing association board

David Orr, the former head of the National Housing Federation, has been named as the new chairman of Clarion Housing Group’s housing association board.

Orr (pictured) replaces David Avery, who was named last month as the chairman of Clarion Housing Group’s board.

Orr, who joined Clarion’s group board in November last year, said he wanted the association to “lead the way in responding to residents’ needs and aspirations” and was “looking forward to playing my part in the continued development of our housing association”.

Avery described Orr as having been a “champion of housing association for decades…I have every confidence that our residents and staff will all benefit from his experience and knowledge of the sector”.

Orr’s appointment came as Clarion, which owns and manages 125,000 homes across the UK, reported a £154m surplus for 2019, down 5%, on turnover of £816m, a decrease of 2%.

Total investment in new homes amounted to £541m, up 27%.

Clarion said 90,000 of its homes were offered at sub-market rent, saving residents and the Treasury around £350m, outstripping its surplus for the year.