Housing association Eastlight Community Homes has made two senior leadership appointments intended to strengthen its shift towards a place-based delivery of services.
As part of the recent restructure, the organisation has appointed Tamara Valmas as head of housing, neighbourhoods, and Claire Morris as head of housing, operations.
Eastlight says the newly created roles are central to its move towards more responsive, community-based services shaped by residents’ priorities.
The Essex- based housing association, which owns and manages more than 14,500 homes across the East of England, said the appointments will play a pivotal role in embedding stronger leadership, improving service consistency and ensuring residents receive quicker, more joined-up support.
Valmas joins Eastlight from Home Group, where she was operations manager for Essex & Suffolk’s housing team. She brings more than 15 years’ experience across neighbourhood management, housing operations and tenancy support, with previous roles at Southern Housing Group and Gallions Housing (now Peabody).
She also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Housing Practice (Social Housing) from the University of Westminster.
She said: “Eastlight’s shift to place based working is ambitious, resident -focused and firmly rooted in local knowledge. I’m looking forward to shaping Neighbourhood Teams that are visible, trusted and equipped to respond to the specific needs of each community.”
Morris previously served as head of housing at MHS Homes in Kent, and as service manager for housing, health and communities at East Herts District Council. Her background includes leading neighbourhood services, income and tenancy sustainment, alongside specialist support functions.
She said: “Returning to Essex and joining Eastlight at such a transformative moment is very exciting. My priority will be on strengthening operational consistency, partnership working and accountability, so residents experience services that are simpler, quicker and more connected moving forward.”
The appointments follow the launch of ‘My Eastlight Team’, which introduced dedicated neighbourhood leads and teams rooted in local communities across four regions and 32 neighbourhood patches.
The model brings together neighbourhood and specialist services to improve visibility, speed of response and boosting long-term relationships with residents.
Main image: Tamara Valmas, head of housing, neighbourhoods, and Claire Morris, head of housing, operations, Eastlight Community Homes
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