South-west housing association appoints former Orbit director as new chair

Gloucestershire-based housing association Two Rivers has announced that Ted Pearce will succeed Yvonne Leishman as chair in October this year, once her term ends.

Pearce has served on Two Rivers’ board since 2019 and currently chairs the housing association’s development board.

He has 40 years’ experience in the property sector and was formerly the director of strategic asset management at Orbit Housing Association.

Two Rivers Housing said that in his interview for the role, Pearce expressed his commitment “to helping us become the best community-based housing association in the UK”.

Two Rivers owns and manages 4,500 homes across Gloucestershire and Herefordshire.

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Leishman joined the housing association’s board in 2017 and was appointed chair the following year.

She was former president of the Chartered Institute of Housing and chair of Housemark, the housing data and insight company owned by the National Housing Federation and CIH.

In 2005, Leishman received an OBE for services to social housing.

The landlord said that over the last six years, Leishman has led Two Rivers ensuring that tenants remain at the heart of its decision-making.

They added that she will work alongside Ted over the next few months to ensure a smooth handover.