Board of management

Who are our Board?

Susan Faridi, Chair

Susan Faridi is currently the Chief Executive of Eldon Housing Association, an organisation specialising in providing extra care and sheltered housing for older people.  Susan has worked with local authorities, charitable organisations, and housing associations for over 30 years, bringing extensive leadership and operational expertise.

Before joining Eldon, Susan was the Chief Executive of The Finchley Charities, a registered housing provider and Almshouse charity offering sheltered housing and grants to individuals facing hardship, as well as community and charitable groups. Prior to that, she was the Director of Services at Stoll, a military charity and housing association supporting veterans with housing and other services as they transitioned from the British Armed Forces.

Susan has also served as a Group Board Member and Chair of the Care Board at Hill Homes, a housing association specialising in sheltered and extra care housing.

Susan’s broad experience in charity management, governance, and housing development also underscores her commitment to improving the quality of life for individuals and communities.

Hornsey Housing Trust holds a special place in Susan’s heart, as she spent seven impactful years (2003-2010) working for the Trust. Her dedication to the Trust and its mission continues to inspire her work today.

Ian Roberts

Ian has lived in North London since 1982, moving to Muswell Hill in 1994. He recently moved again and splits his time between Crouch End and the midlands.

He studied law at Pembroke College, Cambridge, before qualifying as a solicitor in 1985. He spent his career working in the city primarily as a banking lawyer in private practice, ultimately specialising in Social Housing Finance (acting for funders) for 20 years before retiring in 2017. He has previously acted as a Non-Executive Director of a Tenant Management Organisation and of a law firm (wholly owned by a County Council) and has been a Churchwarden (and trustee) of a local church for the last 6 years up to April 2022. He is married with three grown up children and a number of grandchildren.

Dawn Matthews

Dawn is a HR & OD professional with 19 years’ experience at senior level, and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Dawn currently heads up the shared HR and Traded service at the Royal Borough of Kingston, which provides a range of central HR services to the London Borough of Sutton, Sutton Housing Partnership and a variety of schools across several Boroughs in South West London. Prior to this Dawn was a Senior Consultant and supported a range of clients in the housing and not-for-profit sectors with executive and non-executive recruitment, using her HR expertise to help influence the composition of executive teams and Boards.

Having spent most of her career in local government, Dawn is passionate about making a real difference to peoples’ lives, and genuinely appreciates that having a decent home is the lynchpin of achieving a fulfilled life. Dawn has been a Haringey resident all her life and is keen to use both her professional and lived experience to support HHT provide the best service for tenants.

Linmora Blair

Linmora is Director of Housing at London Borough of Sutton and has over 25 years' experience working in Housing. Linmora has a degree in Housing Management and Development, post graduate diploma in leadership, mentoring and coaching and a Master's in Business Administration.  She is a corporate member of CIH.

Linmora is passionate about resident involvement, promoting equality and diversity, piloting new delivery models and partnership working. She is committed to improving the standard of living for all residents. She has led purchase and repair programmes to deliver 400 private rented sector homes in east London in collaboration with Local Authorities and housing providers and Linmora has also spearheaded several initiatives aimed at reducing the number of homeless families in temporary housing.

Rebekah Ryder

Bekah is a reformed town planner who moved into research. She currently works at social housing consultancy, Altair, and before this worked for the trade body for housing associations (National Housing Federation) and charities. She completed a PhD in 2014, looking at feelings of community amongst young people living in new, mixed communities.

She’s always been interested in urban design and community engagement, particularly with children and young people, and has volunteered as a befriender for older people too. Bekah’s research focuses on housing supply, homelessness, welfare, and equality, diversity and inclusion.

In her spare time, you might formerly have seen her swimming at Park Road lido or climbing at the Castle, but she now mainly cares for her young children. She lives on the cusp of Haringey, in Bounds Green.

Matthew Bolwell

Matthew is the Finance Director for Development at Peabody.  He leads teams looking after the financial performance of a substantial development programme.  As part of Peabody’s efforts to diversify their risk exposure, Matthew also sits as a board member across 10 different Joint Venture LLPs across a wide variety of partners with differing approaches to funding.

Prior to joining Peabody in 2018, Matthew spent 7 years working in the Development Finance team at L&Q and has been a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants for over 10 years.

Jessica Bembridge

Jessica's academic foundation includes a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Surrey and she currently works for Ealing Council as Lead Senior Project Manager, where she leads multi-million pound housing regeneration projects to create essential new council homes. Jessica has worked in the social housing sector for over a decade and has also gained experience in the private estate agency sector. Prior to her current role, Jessica made significant contributions at MTVH, a prominent g15 housing association. Her journey there encompassed a diverse range of responsibilities, including housing management, income management, available homes, disposals and acquisitions, and housing development.

Beyond her professional achievements, Jessica is a strong advocate for equality, diversity, and inclusion and she has been involved with various staff groups, dedicated to fostering diversity across all echelons of the housing sector. Jessica's involvement in this initiative reflects her steadfast belief in the power of a diverse workforce to drive innovation and progress. Jessica's passion for social housing stems from a lifelong aspiration to effect meaningful change within the housing sector. She champions the fundamental right to secure housing for all, and is committed to eradicating homelessness and bolstering support systems for vulnerable and elderly individuals with a focus on maintaining independence and enhancing the quality of life.

George Ellis

George is a Strategy Director at British Land, one of the largest FTSE listed property investors in the UK. In this role, George oversees the analysis behind long term capital allocation decisions, and works closely with management and the Board to agree strategic priorities for the business. Prior to working at British Land, he held various Finance roles within industry and practice, and in addition to Strategy he is experienced in Corporate Finance, M&A, Financial Accounting, Investment, and Treasury.

George is a Chartered Accountant with the ICAEW and is also a CFA Charterholder.

Natalie Carter

Natalie is currently Senior Legal Counsel at Apache Capital Partners. Before working at Apache Capital Partners, Natalie worked as a real estate lawyer in the City for over 12 years.

Natalie has a broad range of experience of acquisitions, financing (raising both acquisition and development finance), property management, development agreements and disposals. Natalie has experience of acting for developers, lenders and asset managers. Natalie is also a trustee of the Creative Land Trust which was founded to reverse the long-standing loss of affordable workspace for creatives in London.

Natalie was noted as a Professional Services Rising Star at the 2020 Black British Business Awards and is the co-founder of Black Girls Book Club, creating a safe space for black women who love literature. Natalie is also heavily involved with various charities and organizations that aim to improve diversity in the real estate industry and is passionate about supporting the growth of social value and equity in real estate development.

Raymond Hylton

Raymond is an expert in the built environment, and an established senior leader and consultant bringing a wealth of experience across operational, strategic and advisory roles. Raymond joins the Board with a passion for working with non-profit organisations delivering safe, quality homes and communities, and a nearly three-decade strong loyalty to the construction profession and housing sector.

Currently working as a Senior Consultant in Building Safety, Raymond has previously worked at a senior level for the UK’s second largest Housing Association. He also serves the Architects Registration Board as an Accreditation Visitor, is a RICS Chartered Surveyor with a BSc (Hons) in Building Surveying, and is currently working towards an LLM in Construction Law. He is also a full member of the Institute of Fire Safety Managers, Association for Project Management and the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health.

Raymond aspires to role model diversity in the Board room, and be the representation that has previously inspired him. This has also been one of the motivations behind his 10+ years of professional mentoring to underrepresented communities, and his advocacy around equality, diversity and inclusion.

Dillan Blake-Smith

Dillan Blake-Smith is Head of Compliance & Customer Services at Square Roots Registered Provider Ltd, a for-profit housing organisation delivering affordable homes across London. With over 15 years’ experience in the housing sector, Dillan has managed multi-disciplinary teams across Haringey, including Hornsey, Tottenham and Crouch End during his time at Clarion Housing.

He was also Vice Chair on the Board of an almshouse charity focused on over-55s housing.