Lord Austin returns to his roots with housing role
Lord Austin has returned to his roots after being appointed as chair of one of the country's leading housing associations.
The former Dudley North MP will take up the role with Midland Heart, a Birmingham-based provider of affordable homes.
He previously worked for Focus Housing, one of the organisations that merged to create Midland Heart in 2006.
A former minister in Gordon Brown's Labour government, Lord Austin currently serves as a non-executive director at Homes England and is the Prime Minster’s Trade Envoy to Israel.
He said Midland Heart had done a "fantastic job of steering our organisation through significant challenges, including a four year rent cut and are ahead of other housing associations on the challenges of the future".
He added: "I want to support the Midland Heart team in providing a first-class service to is customers and I look forward to learning more about the business over the next nine months and making sure that we continue to provide great quality homes and services to our customers."
Lord Austin will take over in September. He succeeds John Edwards, who is standing down after nine years as chair.
Glenn Harris, chief executive of Midland Heart, said: "Through his time as housing minister, his role with Homes England and having worked for one of our legacy organisations, Ian has seen all sides of the housing sector and understands the importance of making every single home a decent, safe, and secure place to live."
