Honorary
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Jim Coulter receives Honorary Doctorate of Arts from Leeds Metropolitan University
View images of Jim Coulter receiving his Honorary Award
Former Chief Executive of the National Housing Federation Jim
Coulter is received an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from Leeds
Metropolitan University on Wednesday 13 July at 10.30am.
Jim Coulter has exercised considerable influence on the government’s
housing policy over many years.
Schooled in Newcastle, he studied history at Queen Mary College, London. After graduating, he entered a career in the trades union movement, which included posts in the TUC Economics Department and with NALGO, the public sector union, now Unison, where he was Head of Research.
In the mid-1970s he focused his professional interests in the field of housing. As Director for twelve years, he established the Leeds Federated Housing Association as a leading agency of its kind. During this time he was also a founder member of PATH (Yorkshire) and the Charitable Trust of West Yorkshire Housing Association, both set up to support ethnic minority groups into housing and public service jobs.
In September 1988 his outstanding stewardship of LFHA won him the top job as Chief Executive of the National Housing Federation, the voice of affordable housing, which represents 1,400 independent, not-for-profit housing associations in England with a turnover of over £7.5 billion. Together, the NHF’s members provide over 1.8 million homes for four million people, as well as neighbourhood services, including childcare centres, out-of-school activities, skills training programmes and support for vulnerable adults.
As Chief Executive, Jim guided the sector through the major changes which followed the 1988 Housing Act. He also created and led the iN business for neighbourhoods initiative, which aims to transform the sector through raising the performance of housing associations and challenging negative perceptions of the sector and its customers.
Much of his success in implementing change derives from an exceptional ability to engage with senior figures in Westminster, Whitehall and elsewhere. He has thrived in managing a complex environment and securing sustained support for the NHF in a highly volatile and competitive landscape, where there are many regional and intra-sectoral differences.
His involvement in public life has been, and remains, extensive. This has included service on the Independent Commission on Good Governance in Public Services, the Board of Shelter and the Homeless Network, now part of the Homeless Alliance, the co-ordinating body for organisations which support street homeless people and which was the pressure group for the original Rough Sleepers Initiative. He was recently appointed as a member of the Audit Commission Board, where he is the designated lead on housing regeneration and sustainable communities.
The measure of Jim’s achievements is summed up by Nick Raynsford MP, former Minister for Housing and Planning: “The very fact that the voluntary housing movement has come so far owes no small debt to Jim Coulter’s flinty and pragmatic determination, clear vision and moral authority.”
Jim Coulter stepped down as Chief Executive of the National Housing
Federation at the end of last month, but will remain an influential
figure in public life.
