Darrell Mercer

Lesley joined the Board as independent non-executive chair in July 2020. With 30 years of public sector experience, Lesley has a thorough understanding of community engagement, local partnerships and a wide range of services including housing. Lesley spent eight years as chief executive of Islington Council and more recently was interim chief executive at LB Redbridge. She also holds a board position at BHRUT and is a trustee of The Big House Theatre Company.

“Nothing is more important to the wellbeing of our communities than good quality affordable housing. So I am delighted to have the opportunity as Chair of Zen to make a contribution to improving the lives of our residents.”

Darrell joined the Board as an independent non-executive director in July 2020 and he brings a wealth of social housing experience to the team. Darrell is stepping down from his longstanding role as chief executive of A2Dominion Housing Group in 2022. During his tenure, he transformed the organisation, growing the portfolio from 850 properties to 38,000 with a further 5,000 in the development pipeline. Darrell has considerable strategic leadership experience in both executive and non-executive roles and has extensive specialist knowledge in property development, risk management, governance and regulation. Darrell also holds a board position at 28,000 home North West based provider Your Housing Group.

“I believe strongly in a diverse sector and Zen is a perfect example of a smaller, more responsive provider that can deliver smaller sites quickly in line with local needs and requirements. I anticipate local authorities in particular will be delighted to work with us.”

Owen joined the us as an independent non-executive director in July 2020. He is a highly experienced chair and non-executive director of registered housing providers and health authorities. He has worked in housing, health care and mental health services. As a highly respected interim Chief Executive he has been responsible for leading major change in governance, executive structures and bringing about organisational learning. Owen is passionate about excellence in customer services and in providing safe, quality homes for residents.

“I was particularly attracted to them because of the focus on the design of the homes Zen are proposing to construct.”

Sergey joined the Zen Housing Board as a non-executive director in April 2022. At Gresham House (formerly Trade Risks), he has been involved in establishing two for-profit registered providers with the aim of raising up to £2bn of equity from private markets and investments into new build social housing. With 1,000 units under management and a further 1,000 units in the pipeline, he has been instrumental in improving the performance of the Shared Ownership assets within the Resi REIT Plc and Gresham House ReSI LP portfolios. Sergey brings vast experience of Shared Ownership investment appraisal, acquisitions and management.

With over 20 years experience in the Housing Sector, Alan has held various senior roles in the HA sector and co-founded the National Leasehold Group (NLG) before becoming an independent Leasehold Consultant in 2004.

He is CEO of the NLG, a networking group of Leasehold management functions within the HA Sector with a stated aim of improving standards in leasehold management. As a Leasehold Consultant he advises HAs and Local Authorities on various leasehold matters and undertakes best practice and process reviews, performs interim senior roles and delivers numerous training courses.

Alan was previously an honorary consultant with the FPRA. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Residential Property Management and an Associate member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. He was also independent Chair of Lewisham Homes’ Leaseholders Forum until June 2022.

“Delivery of affordable homes in itself is not enough. We are committed at Zen to providing quality buildings and services which help create sustainable communities”.