Jersey Lawyer Philip Le Cornu is the new Chairman of the Jersey Homes Trust. He takes over from the current chairman and founder of the trust, Michael Van Neste.

In 1994, Mr Van Neste was invited by the then President of the States’ Housing Committee, the late Len Norman, to set up an organisation to increase the stock of social rented housing in the Island. The JHT was established the following year and is now the largest independent housing association in Jersey, owning and managing 839 homes spread over 24 estates.

Mr Le Cornu was educated at Victoria College before qualifying as a Barrister. He joined Ogier as a trust lawyer in 2000 before moving into the fiduciary services business in 2009. He was group director with global responsibility for Intertrust and prior to that Elian Private Wealth, formerly part of Ogier Fiduciary Services.

He later set up and ran the operational support, corporate governance and compliance function for a global philanthropic programme for a charitable foundation. Early on in the Covid emergency he was instrumental in establishing the Jersey Community Foundation and became one of the original trustees. He has been a trustee of the Jersey Homes Trust for over ten years.

Commenting on his appointment, Mr Le Cornu said: ‘I am honoured and delighted to have been asked to take on the chairmanship of the Jersey Homes Trust. The work achieved already under Michael’s leadership has been phenomenal. With the continuing need for social rented housing, the Jersey Homes Trust will continue to focus on developing more homes for the residents of the Island.’