Islington Council appoints Maxine Holdsworth as corporate director of housing

Maxine has been a long-term employee of Islington Council and held the role of service director of housing needs and strategy before taking a secondment to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea for the last 18 months.

Maxine has played a key role in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, working directly with those affected. Her role has involved everything from sourcing hundreds of new homes for families and individuals, to working with deeply traumatised residents and gradually starting to rebuild relationships with the community.

Cllr Diarmaid Ward, Islington Council’s executive member for housing and development, said: “We are delighted to be appointing Maxine Holdsworth as the new corporate director of housing after an extensive selection process, and look forward to welcoming her back.

“Maxine has worked at Islington since 2005 and is already highly respected. She has vast experience and the leadership skills we are looking for to help turn our ambitions for housing into reality, delivering decent and genuinely affordable homes for local people, providing the best service for our tenants and taking tough lines on rogue landlords and letting agents who treat private tenants unfairly.”

On her appointment, Maxine Holdsworth said: “Islington is a great place, and I  am really looking forward to coming back to lead the borough's ambitious programme for housing: making sure our tenants are safe in good quality homes, scaling-up building new homes, tackling homelessness and improving the private rented sector.  Working with residents in the aftermath of the Grenfell fire has changed me personally and professionally, and I would like to express my great admiration for the individuals and organisations from whom I have learnt so much.”

Islington Council will work closely with Kensington and Chelsea to ensure that Maxine’s transition back to Islington, in March 2019, does not adversely affect the vital work she has been leading while on secondment there.