Aberdeenshire Council has appointed Aberdeen City Council’s communities and housing citywide manager Rob Simpson as its new head of housing.

The appointment follows the death of former head of housing Douglas Edwardson who passed away following a road accident in December last year.

Mr Simpson, who was also acting head of communities and housing for a period earlier this year, will take up his new role at Aberdeenshire Council on November 21.

Cllr Anne Allan, chair of social work and housing committee, said: “I want to wish Rob Simpson all the best in the role and look forward to working with him to ensure the service delivers for our tenants and communities across Aberdeenshire.

“There is no doubt this is a challenging but rewarding role which requires special skills to achieve the best outcomes for everyone. Ensuring tenants’ voices are heard is an important part of that role and one of the first things I will be talking to Rob about is how we get tenants more involved in the decision making.”

Co-leader of Aberdeenshire Council, Cllr Richard Thomson, also welcomed the appointment: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank Brian Watson who took on the role of acting head of housing during a very difficult time for the team following the sad death of Douglas Edwardson last year. Brian and his team have done a great job in what has been a challenging year ensuring the Housing Service is in a good place when Mr Simpson takes over.

“During 2015/16 nearly 250 affordable housing units have been built, the service coped magnificently in the aftermath of the floods, steered two developments to their completion which had been delayed due to Muirfield going in to administration, reduced the number of people on housing waiting list from over 10,000 down to 8500 and continued to upgrade council stock to meet EESSH standards.”

Co-leader of Aberdeenshire Council, Cllr Alison Evison, added: “Housing remains a key priority for Aberdeenshire Council and the service has to tackle a range of issues from, providing affordable housing, to addressing homelessness and fuel poverty. Rob Simpson brings with him the experience of doing a similar role at Aberdeen City Council and I wish him all the best as he looks to shape and build a service to meet future challenges.”

Prior to working at Aberdeen City Council, Rob Simpson was team manager in Aberdeenshire Council’s Business Services. There he programme-managed a wide range of projects delivering the Worksmart and WorkSPACE strategies, including the new HQ in Peterhead and working on shared services with Aberdeen City Council.