The Riverside Group has appointed Terrie Alafat CBE as its new Group Chair.

Ms Alafat will take up her new role in April next year, replacing the current Chair Max Steinberg CBE when he retires.

She is due to retire from her current role as Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing in November and brings with her a wealth of housing experience spanning over 23 years.

Riverside Chairman Max Steinberg CBE, said: “I am delighted to be handing over the reins to Terrie as Riverside’s new Group Chair. Her wealth of knowledge of the housing sector and her work in shaping policy will be instrumental in continuing to take the Group forward as one of the country’s leading providers of housing and homelessness services. I wish her all the best in the new role and know the organisation will be in excellent hands.”

Ms Alafat was previously Director of Housing at the Department of Communities and Local Government where she was responsible for national housing polices including affordable housing, homelessness and supported housing.

Speaking about her new role, Terrie said: “I am really pleased to be joining Riverside, an organisation I have had the pleasure of working with over a number of years and whose values align strongly with my own. It’s an organisation with impressive leadership that has actively been making a positive difference to people’s lives in a whole range of ways for over 90 years. I am very much looking forward to building on that legacy and the great work of my predecessor Max Steinberg.”