Blakeway starts as Housing Ombudsman “at vital time”

The former Deputy Mayor for Housing, Land and Property at the Greater London Authority, Richard Blakeway, has started as the Housing Ombudsman.

Blakeway was Deputy Mayor for eight years and chair of the Homes for London board. He has also been an adviser in the No10 policy unit.

Previously he was chair of a local authority development company and a non-executive director of Homes England for nearly three years.

The Housing Ombudsman Service said Blakeway was joining at a vital time.

“Redress in social housing remains a key issue, and the Service has developed a three-year strategy with the aim of ‘Making a difference on individual complaints and across the sector’. It addresses the key demands of all stakeholders: faster and effective redress, hearing residents’ voices and increased transparency,” it added.

Blakeway said: “This is an exciting time to be joining the Housing Ombudsman Service. I am keen to build on our work to strengthen our service and create a positive culture around redress.”

He has taken over from Andrea Keenoy, who had held the role of Interim Housing Ombudsman since August 2018.