Commonweal Housing has appointed longstanding trustee Russ Edwards, a qualified architect and experienced developer, as the Vice-Chair of the Board.
Russ was a practicing architect for over 15 years, and has spent a decade in development roles, initially specialising in London-based regeneration projects. Since 2022, he has been a Project Director at Latimer, the development arm of Clarion Housing Group - England’s largest housing association. In this position, he is helping deliver the Garden Community project in Tendring and Colchester, which aims to provide affordable homes within a self-sufficient new community.
Previously, he was Head of Residential Product at Lendlease, where he managed a pipeline of 30,000 homes across the UK and Europe. He also served as Design Director for Pocket Living, ensuring design quality for Pocket Homes – one-bed homes designed for first-time buyers in London.
Before development, Russ worked as an architect for the award-winning studio DRMM and Design Engine Architects. He is a member of Barnet Council’s Quality Review Panel, which provides planning consultation for significant local proposals.
Since joining Commonweal's Board in 2017, Russ has been an active and engaged figure - who has greatly contributed to the charity's strategic growth over the past seven years.
He succeeds Amarjit Bains, who was appointed Chair in January 2025. Russ will collaborate closely with Commonweal’s senior leadership team, including Amarjit, the Chief Executive and the Deputy CEO, to expand the charity’s initiatives aimed at addressing social injustices.
Russ Edwards said: “As a long-term Trustee of Commonweal Housing, I am extremely proud to become the Vice-Chair and support our new Chair, Amarjit. I am very much looking forward to building on the fantastic legacy of the last 19 years of Commonweal.
“The urgent need to explore new approaches to addressing social injustice with housing-based solutions is more critical than ever. I am excited to work closely with the team at Commonweal and our project partners in continuing to seek out the ideas and projects where our agility, knowledge and experience can make a genuine difference to those that need it most.”
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