Leading affordable Extra Care Housing developer, Preferred Homes, has appointed Manchester City Council’s former Assistant Director for Commissioning to its board as a Non-Executive Director (NED).
Zoe Robertson has 35 years’ experience in housing and adult social care, having dedicated her career to helping deliver specialist accommodation. Among her achievements at the council, Zoe’s work in older people’s housing led to a tripling of the city’s extra care housing provision.
She also pioneered the council’s approach to Neighbourhood Apartments, a form of short-term accommodation for older people which supports timely hospital discharge – helping people to rebuild their independence rather than being stuck in the health system.
Zoe worked as a nurse for 10 years before embarking on her successful career at the city council. Her extensive experience across health, social care, and housing make her an ideal fit for Preferred Homes as the developer looks to ramp up delivery of new high-quality and affordable Extra Care Housing.
In her new NED role, Zoe will support Preferred Homes to make the case for better integration across local government and public services. Her expertise in assessing local need for Extra Care Housing will also help the registered provider as it looks to scale up to a portfolio of 50 sites in the years ahead.
Stephen Sorrell, Social Partnership Director at Preferred Homes, said:
“Zoe brings unparalleled expertise to the Preferred Homes team as we continue to scale up and make an impact across the sector. She has already hit the ground running, and I know how keen she is to continue innovating and coming up with new and better solutions – this new role will allow her to do exactly that.
“A deep knowledge of local government, housing and social care are testament to the incredibly successful career she has had – but just important for us is the obvious and enduring passion she has to make people’s lives better. Welcome to the team, Zoe.”
Zoe Robertson, Non-Executive Director at Preferred Homes, said:
“I’ve always been most motivated by opportunities to have a tangible and direct impact. It is exactly that motivation which has now brought me to Preferred Homes.
“I’m particularly pleased to be joining a board who not only share my passion for this sector but also have a wide mix of specialisms including real estate, finance, housing and care.
“One thing I’ve learned in my career in that good intentions are not enough. As we’ve seen increasingly in recent years, often financial constraints get in the way and throttle the provision of specialist and affordable housing. That’s another reason why it’s really exciting to be joining Preferred Homes at this time, with an opportunity to put its significant private capital to good use and deliver at scale.”