As a decarbonisation expert, she will help lead the Housing Forum's sustainability mission and its drive to improve quality in design, construction and maintenance of UK homes.

Kirsty is former chair of the Heat Network Industry Council Customer Experience working group. At Switch2 she has led change across the community and district heating sector for more than 15 years.

She has vast experience of large scale heat network retrofit projects and resident engagement programmes – resulting in dramatic cost and carbon savings and better customer service.

'I'm honoured to be elected to The Housing Forum board', said Kirsty. 'I look forward to joining with peers from all areas of the housing sector to work towards our overall vision of delivering 'a quality home for all'.

' It is vital that all people have access to affordable, low carbon housing, including next generation sustainable heat networks. I look forward to playing a part in delivering on these goals and making sure that residents' needs are met.'

Switch2 provides end-to-end delivery of heat network projects for private developers, housing associations and local authorities – serving 85,000 residents and 200 clients across 500 heat schemes.