Ken Youngman
Interim Chief Financial Officer
Ken Youngman is a seasoned finance executive with more than three decades of experience across housing, transport, and public service sectors. He served for 16 years as Group Finance Director at Family Mosaic, a major housing association managing over 25,000 homes, until its 2017 merger with Peabody [1]. After that, he took on a number of high-level interim roles, including at Sovereign Housing, where he helped steer the finance function during the merger that formed an 80,000-home organisation [2].
Outside the housing sector, Youngman was Commercial Finance Director at Transport for London between 2018 and 2022, where he developed funding strategies for 10,000 homes, half of which were earmarked as affordable [2]. His contributions to the sector have earned industry recognition: he was named Housing Association Financial Director of the Year in 2016 and led a Finance Team of the Year in 2017 [2].
Role at GreenSquareAccord
Appointed in December 2024, Ken Youngman joined GreenSquareAccord (GSA) as Interim Chief Financial Officer during a critical period of restructuring and financial recovery [3]. His arrival followed the departure of the previous CFO, and his core mandate was to stabilise and strengthen the finances of the 26,000-home landlord.
One of his early milestones was overseeing GSA’s return to financial surplus in the 2023/24 fiscal year – the first since the 2021 merger of GreenSquare and Accord. That surplus, reported as £3.9 million, came after a series of deficits and was largely achieved through the cutting of loss-making services and one-off reductions in expenditure [3]. Under Youngman’s leadership, GSA has attempted to refocus on long-term financial sustainability – though not without controversy.
Financial Strategy and Challenges
Youngman’s tenure began amidst growing concerns about GSA’s increasing reliance on property disposals. A recent Moody’s report stated that GSA’s financial plan had become “increasingly dependent on the sale of homes,” with the association projecting £55 million in asset disposals by 2026 – a dramatic rise from £12 million in 2023 [4].
At the time of publication, only half the required homes for this strategy had been identified, raising alarm over potential further sales and possible long-term impacts on affordable housing supply [4]. This has already triggered public backlash – including from Wiltshire councillors who passed an emergency motion calling on GSA to pause its rural housing sell-offs, citing fears that local communities would be “hollowed out” [5].
Youngman also faces the difficult task of overseeing investment into services following damning revelations from a Housing Ombudsman investigation in 2024, which found GSA guilty of maladministration in 93% of complaint handling cases and 79% of property condition cases reviewed [6]. These findings confirmed what many residents already knew: that complaints were routinely ignored, homes were left in disrepair, and key safety works were delayed or mishandled. Resolving these issues will require not just operational change but significant financial commitment – something that rests squarely with Youngman’s office.
Resident Concerns and Accountability
Under Youngman’s stewardship, residents are closely watching how GSA’s improved financial standing will translate into service improvements. Trust in the organisation’s financial decision-making has been low, particularly as service charge income jumped by 13% in just one year [7], despite little to no perceived improvement in housing conditions.
One resident-led article captured the frustration:
“Year after year, bills go up – often without explanation – and residents are left asking the same questions: What are we actually paying for? Where is this money going?” [8]
Residents have reported being overcharged, misinformed, or simply ignored when querying fees, while campaigners have accused GSA of pushing struggling families to breaking point [9]. Critics argue that rather than re-investing surpluses into core services, the leadership has prioritised short-term gains and asset sell-offs.
Youngman is expected to bring a level of discipline and clarity to the financial strategy, but he also faces increasing pressure to ensure transparency in budgeting, service charging, and how reinvestment decisions are made. GSA’s own Chair has stated that greater financial stability must be used to improve customer services and rebuild resident confidence [10].
Outlook
Ken Youngman occupies one of the most critical positions in GreenSquareAccord’s executive team. As CFO, he controls the purse strings of an organisation that is still recovering from the reputational and structural fallout of its merger.
While many credit him with bringing experience and steadiness to the role, residents remain sceptical that cost-cutting, asset sales, and headline surpluses alone will fix GSA’s deeper problems. What’s now expected is visible, tangible investment in repairs, customer service, and long-overdue system reform.
As one resident campaign puts it:
“The financial reports may look better – but what about our homes, our families, our futures?” [8]
For Ken Youngman, the challenge ahead is not just balancing the books, but proving that sound financial management can go hand-in-hand with fairness, transparency, and social responsibility.
Sources
Housing Today – Family Mosaic, Peabody merger
GreenSquareAccord – Executive team profiles
Housing Today – GSA 2023/24 financial results
GreenSquareAccord Residents – Moody’s credit analysis (2025)
GreenSquareAccord Residents – Wiltshire Council motion on rural home sales
Scottish Housing News – Housing Ombudsman report on GSA
Inside Housing – GSA annual accounts 2023/24
GreenSquareAccord Residents – “Service Charge: The Breaking Point”
LinkedIn – Resident campaign posts (2024–2025)
Inside Housing – Interview with GSA Board Chair (2025)