Swansea-based Coastal Housing Group, which operates in south and west Wales, has made key interim appointments to its development team to support its current programme whilst retaining the flexibility and agility to respond quickly to future opportunities.
The group is working with Ark Consultancy on a strategic partnership that aligns with Coastal’s expertise in housing-led regeneration and brings fresh perspectives on the Welsh housing sector as well as a step-change in Coastal’s ability to innovate and grow.
ARK is a market-leading housing consultancy with particular expertise in asset management, regeneration and development.
Kelly Thomas joins Coastal as Interim Director of Development, having most recently worked as a lead on Community-Led Housing at Bristol City Council. Kelly began her career in housing in 1995 with Sovereign Housing, ultimately progressing to work as Development Director for a housing association in the south-west of England.
As a senior consultant with Ark, Kelly is an experienced regeneration and development practitioner with an entrepreneurial and commercial edge. She has worked across the social housing and local authority sectors and is skilled at developing effective collaborations and partnerships.
Joining Kelly at Coastal is James Griffiths as Interim Head of Development. Having started work in the private sector including working in PLC housebuilders, James has over 20 years’ experience in the construction industry in both an operational and pre-construction capacity. He has worked across a wide range of projects including high-value commercial/residential development and regeneration schemes.
Since joining the social housing sector James has been heavily involved in the development of the Curo regeneration programmes at Foxhall in Bath and has recently been working with an English Housing Association on their development and regeneration strategy.
“We are delighted to welcome Kelly and James to Coastal,” says Chief Executive Debbie Green. “Their respective skills and experience are a great fit for both our existing programme and our future aspirations. Whilst we have a busy programme of innovative builds, we recognise that the current development landscape is shifting and wanted to retain the flexibility to respond to that in ways that best benefit people and communities where we work.
“Alongside our increased financial capacity following a loan restructuring exercise last year, we are in an excellent position both to be able to scale up our development and create new opportunities to deliver in partnership with others.”
Roger Williams, Chair of Coastal added, “We are an ambitious organisation, keen to grow, innovate, and increase affordable and sustainable housing supply in south and west Wales, and we are confident these appointments will help us meet our future goals.”
Kieran Colgan, Director (Wales & West), ARK Consultancy said: “ARK is delighted to have the opportunity to work in partnership with such an ambitious and forward-looking organisation as Coastal. By combining our sector-leading skills, knowledge and experience we can deliver more great homes for local people”.