Fortior Homes welcomes new chair of the board

Stoke-on-Trent City Council’s wholly-owned housing company has welcomed a new chair of the board.

Sean Anstee CBE was appointed to the role at Fortior Homes earlier this month (October) taking over from Stoke-on-Trent City Council leader councillor Abi Brown.

Mr Anstee is an experienced strategist and adviser with an extensive background in regional and local government, having spent 13 years as an elected member at Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council, including four years as leader of the authority between 2014 and 2018.

Mr Anstee, who was awarded a CBE for services to local government in the 2019 New Year’s Honours, said: “I am hugely impressed with the work Stoke-on-Trent City Council and council leader Abi Brown are doing across the city. Stoke-on-Trent is a fascinating place which has lots of untapped potential, so this is an exciting time to be joining Fortior Homes.

“I believe this is a fantastic opportunity for me to be able to apply my experience of governance, development and real estate to take things forward, with support of the city council.

“We need to focus on reshaping Stoke-on-Trent’s housing market with our high quality, private-rented offering and bring forward the much-needed development of brownfield sites in the city.”

Following his appointment at Fortior Homes, Mr Anstee will remain in post as an executive director at Municipal Partners and a board member and chair of the Finance and Resources Committee at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Councillor Abi Brown, leader of Stoke-on-Trent City Council, said: "Fortior has gone from strength to strength over recent years and I am delighted to be able to hand over the reins to Sean who, with extensive experience in local government and the housing and development sectors, will be a real asset to the organisation.

“To be able to attract someone of his calibre is a real coup for Stoke-on-Trent and I have every confidence that he will ensure that Fortior Homes continues to operate at its maximum potential now and in the future.

“Over the last three years, Fortior has successfully developed and delivered a mixed portfolio of traditional and new build homes at several key sites across the city, and it's been a pleasure to have led the team during this exciting time."

Mr Anstee joins the Fortior Homes board at an exciting time for the company, with the Saxon Place development, in Hanley, nearing completion.

The 128-home scheme has been designed and built specifically for long-term private rent, with a small number of freehold properties sold on the open market.

The four-acre site is a major visual gateway into the city centre and is contributing towards addressing the city’s need for high quality new-build rented accommodation.

There has been strong demand for the properties, with all homes being snapped up as soon as they became available, and significant interested in those yet to be completed.