McCarthy & Stone (Shared Ownership) Limited has appointed Waqar Ahmed as chair, succeeding Bill Yardley, who has stepped down after seven years in the role.
Ahmed brings with him extensive experience from across the housing sector, including 27 years at L&Q, where he was group finance director for 17 years. He is a strategic advisor to the Housing Finance Corporation Ltd and a board member for Brent Council’s First Wave Housing and i4B Holdings Ltd, and a trustee of Crisis UK.
During his tenure, Yardley played a leading role in developing McCarthy & Stone’s Older Persons Shared Ownership (OPSO) scheme as a strategic partner with Homes England. Under his leadership, the company secured affordable housing grant funding through the Affordable Homes Programme 2021-26, the first time Homes England had provided public grant funding directly to the private retirement housing sector.
Matthew Pratt, chief executive officer of McCarthy & Stone, said: “We are delighted to welcome Waqar as chair at this important stage in the company’s development. His extensive social housing experience will continue to drive our delivery of more much-needed affordable later living housing. The unique OPSO product opens the door for more older people to benefit from our specialist lifestyle offer, and we look forward to building on that vision under his leadership as chair.
“We are grateful to Bill for his leadership and commitment over the past seven years. He leaves the business with a strong platform for the future delivery of more affordable later living housing, and we thank him for his contribution.”
Ahmed commented: “I’m delighted to be joining McCarthy & Stone at such an important time for the sector. The success of the OPSO scheme to date demonstrates the significant demand for access to high-quality, affordable later living housing.
“I look forward to building on this progress with the team and supporting our ambition to deliver affordable shared ownership homes to older people alongside the Government’s ambition to accelerate the delivery of affordable housing.”
Yardley added: “I am confident the company has a strong future and I wish Waqar and the team every success in its next phase.”
