Piers Williamson appointed chair of Sustainability for Housing

Piers Williamson has been appointed as chair of Sustainability for Housing (SfH), the board that oversees the Sustainability Reporting Standard (SRS) for the social housing sector.

Williamson, who earlier this year stood down as chief executive of social housing bond aggregator The Housing Finance Corporation (THFC), will join SfH next month, succeeding former Peabody chief executive Brendan Sarsfield as chair.

The SRS was launched in 2020 in response to concerns that environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investment in social housing was being held back by the absence of a sustainable reporting standard for social landlords. The SRS is a voluntary framework covering 48 ESG considerations including affordability, safety standards and zero carbon targets.

Sarah Forster, chief executive and co-founder of social impact advisors The Good Economy, which is the secretariat to SfH and ran the recruitment process, said: “During the recruitment process, Piers stood out due to his wealth of experience in both the social housing and financial sectors.

>>See also: Social housing ESG reporting standard updated to focus on tenant issues

“His commitment to the social housing sector is well-known and we also note that, under his leadership, THFC was an avid supporter and early adopter of the SRS.”

During his 22 years as boss of THFC, Williamson grew the bond aggregator’s loan book to more than £8bn. THFC also created a sustainable bond framework and launched THFC Sustainable Finance, a vehicle aimed at helping housing associations tackle net zero targets.