Inside Housing – Insight – Capital issues: G15 boss Geeta Nanda assesses issues facing homeowners in London

When Geeta Nanda became vice president of the G15 in 2019, she could never have predicted how eventful the next two years would be for social housing.

During this time, the group of London’s biggest homeowners, like the rest of the industry, experienced a pandemic, an ever-growing building safety crisis that has already cost huge sums to rectify, and a zero carbon campaign. which will probably cost that much. if not, more.

More recently, a long-running ITV News investigation scrutinized social landlords, including a member of the G15, highlighting the appalling conditions some tenants must endure.

For the 12 HLM members of the G15, there are clearly trying headwinds to navigate. And, until 2023, Ms. Nanda, Managing Director of Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (MTVH), will be the ship’s captain.

For the 11 associations of the G15, there are clearly trying headwinds to navigate. And, until 2023, Ms. Nanda, Managing Director of the Metropolitan Thames Valley (MTVH), will be the ship’s captain.

Two months after replacing Helen Evans, Managing Director of Network Homes as President of the G15, Inside the accommodation meets Ms. Nanda to discuss the biggest issues facing the capital’s biggest housing associations.

She relishes her new job. “There are a lot of challenges; it’s good to take on the role of president and tackle some of these things, ”she said.

Few have more experience in the social housing sector in the capital. Born in Gravesend, Kent, before her family moved to Sutton shortly after birth, Ms Nanda has spent her career working with London landlords. But it could have been so different.

Ms. Nanda aspired to become a clinical psychologist, but that dream came to an end after a year of working in a mental hospital. “At the time, it was about locking people up and all that, it was horrible,” she explains.

Instead, she got a graduate intern role at Wandsworth Council in the 1980s. “It covered housing finance and education. I did housing first, then finance – you can guess which I prefer, ”she jokes.