Former U+I director Martyn Evans handed role

Martyn Evans

Martyn Evans

Housing developer Brick by Brick has appointed former U+I director Martyn Evans as its non-executive chair.

The firm was set up by Croydon council three years ago to build more than 1,000 homes across the borough by 2019.

Evans (pictured) worked for Cathedral as creative director at the time it merged with Development Securities to form U+I in 2016.

Brick by Brick currently has a pipeline of around 1,200 homes under construction.

The group set up a framework of contractors to carry out the work – including Henry Construction, Osborne Homes and north London firm Quinn – as well as a roster of architects.

Henry Construction is also carrying out work on a deal for developer Hub to turn the former headquarters of Croydon council into more than 500 homes.

The appointment comes as Brick by Brick gears up for the launch of its first two completed schemes, Auckland Rise and Ravensdale in Upper Norwood, which together will provide 85 homes.

The developer expects to complete 2,000 homes by 2022 and around 500 a year after that.

Evans is currently estate development director at the 1,200-acre Dartington Hall Estate in Devon, running a programme of regeneration on a medieval estate that was re-invented in 1925 as an experimental rural community.