Wrekin Housing Trust chief's pay rise put in spotlight

John Broadhead got a near 18 per cent pay rise in 2013/14 as his salary went up from £127,187 per year to £149,687 according to trade magazine Inside Housing.

Only one other housing association chief executive in the whole of the country – David Ashmore at West Country-based GreenSquare Group – got a bigger pay hike with a 21 per cent rise.

The average pay rise for chief executives was just three per cent, the survey found.

But Wrekin Housing Trust has disputed the figures.

They say it is an "artificial" pay rise as Mr Broadhead worked fewer hours in 2012/13 because of a period of unpaid leave and insist he got the same rise last year as every other employee in the organisation.

Company secretary Chris Horton said: "The remuneration of the chief executive of The Wrekin Housing Group was £149,687 in the last financial year.

"Between 2012 and 2013 his salary had reduced by nine per cent to reflect lower working hours."

When asked why Mr Broadhead had worked fewer hours, Mr Horton said: "We wouldn't be in a position to divulge information relating to an individual's personal working hours.

"But I would just reiterate his hours were reduced in 2012/2013 and then back to normal working hours in 2013/2014.

"We can confirm that Mr Broadhead's pay increase was the same percentage as every other employee of The Wrekin Housing Trust for 13/14, and that was 2.5 per cent."

Despite the rise, Mr Broadhead is still nowhere near the top earners in the country according to the Inside Housing report.

His salary is below the £161,313 per year average for the 2013/14 financial year – a figure which was up £4,827 on 2012/13.

With bonuses and car allowances included the average pay packet for 2013/14 went up to £173,321, up £6,413 from the year before.

David Cowans is once again the highest-paid chief executive in housing in terms of total pay.

The commander-in-chief at Places for People, also the biggest association in the top 100 with homes all over the country, Mr Cowans takes home £432,928 in total.

This is a relatively modest 1.35 per cent increase on his 2012/13 pay.

But Mr Cowans is paid £100,000 more than the next highest-paid chief executive, Anchor's Jane Ashcroft.

His salary is also more than four times that of the lowest-paid chief executive working for a top 100 housing association, Linda Adair Whittaker of NPT Homes, who takes home £104,000.