The Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) has announced a couple of key changes to its Northern Ireland advisory board.

Former Choice Housing director Niall Sheridan has been named as the new chairperson of the board, taking over from Eileen Patterson who has finished her tenure as chair and retired from the board after six years of service.

Carol McTaggart, chief executive at Clanmil Housing, has also been appointed as the new vice chair of the board.

Commenting on the appointment, director Justin Cartwright said: "I'd firstly like to thank Eileen Patterson for her service to the Northern Ireland board. Eileen brought a wealth of experience to the team, having been director of communities at Radius Housing. Throughout her tenure, Eileen identified a number of key areas of strategic importance for our members and was instrumental in championing a number of vital pieces of work. We are grateful that Eileen will continue to support the work of CIH in the time ahead.  

"We are delighted to have Niall Sheridan, former group director of development and assets at Choice Housing, as the incoming chair. Niall has many years of experience working in social housing and an acute understanding of both the barriers and the opportunities that lie ahead for the profession. We look forward to working with Niall in the time ahead."

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Chairperson of the Northern Ireland board, Niall Sheridan commented: "As chair of the board I will champion the work of CIH as the leading organisation for committed housing professionals and ensure that relevant services are available to foster continuous professional development.

"My aspiration will be to 'add value through professionalism' and seek opportunities to engage with all relevant stakeholders to positively influence housing policy and practice.

"Finally, I look forward to fostering closer working relationships with colleagues in CIH Ireland and assisting them in delivering their ambitious plans."

Reflecting on her time with CIH, former chairperson Eileen Patterson added: "It was with a tinge of sadness that I recently stepped down as chair of the Northern Ireland advisory board having really enjoyed working with the great people who make up the board and CIH staff. But I do value the rules of good governance which help to regenerate boards and make way for new blood, new thinking and new opportunities for the current and future leaders in our wonderful profession. It was, undoubtedly, my time to go.

"When I reflect on my time serving on the board, I am immensely proud of having had the opportunity to represent the housing sector and the many housing professionals who every day, work hard to provide services and support to all our customers. We have faced many challenges in housing, not least the pandemic, yet throughout this time, CIH has continued to support, promote and celebrate all that is good in the housing profession. We have achieved many good things in Northern Ireland in the past few years including our contribution to the introduction of welfare mitigations, our Rethinking Social Housing project, raising awareness and starting the conversation on the net zero agenda and the introduction of professional standards.

"I will always be a proud housing professional and a CIH member. I wish the CIH board in Northern Ireland every success for the future and I know they are in good hands with Niall Sheridan taking over as chair. The challenges never cease, and housing cannot solve all these issues alone, but I have no doubt that housing professionals will play a very important role in highlighting what needs to be done to meet the needs of our society and then working in partnership with others to meet those needs."