Behind the scenes with Paul Dooley, our Chief Development Officer

19/03/2026

We sat down with Paul Dooley as part of our ongoing ‘Behind the Scenes’ series with our newly formed Leadership team.

Having spent 16 years shaping HARCA’s regeneration and development work, Paul has now stepped into the role of Chief Development Officer. He’s helping to guide one of our most ambitious periods yet – from major regeneration schemes to stronger building safety systems and long-term investment in our homes.

A role with a wider view

Paul’s new role, which has him overseeing both the Development and Assets teams, builds on years of hands-on experience.

“Before, I was very involved in the detail,” he says. “Now Ian Lamprell (Director of Development) and Barry Waller (Director of Assets) lead the project work and teams, which gives me space to think strategically and support them differently.”

With this shift, mentoring has become a bigger part of Paul’s day-to-day work.

“It’s given me more time to help our teams settle in and be a sounding board,” he says.

The new leadership structure is also strengthening collaboration across HARCA.

“If there’s a challenge facing both Development and Housing, for example, Liz Williams (Chief Operating Officer) and I can quickly bring teams together. We’re all working towards the same goal.”

With the new structure now embedded, Paul is focused on the year ahead – and there’s plenty on the horizon.

Looking ahead

This year is set to be a defining one for the Development and Assets teams, and Paul’s priorities reflect the scale of what’s coming:

Completing Stroudley Walk in the coming months
Kicking off the next phase at Aberfeldy in the middle of this year
Starting building work at Teviot in the autumn
Continuing to strengthen the Building Safety team and progressing all safety cases

“It’s a long list,” Paul admits, “but the teams are brilliant – and we’re in a good place to move forward.”

This confidence reflects Paul’s wider leadership outlook.

“You’ve got to stay positive,” he says. “Every problem has a solution. You won’t always get it perfect, but it’s important to move forward and make things right.”

But delivering all this isn’t without its challenges, especially as the wider housing sector continues to change.

Navigating a challenging housing sector

Paul is open about the pressures affecting the national development landscape.

“Interest rates have risen, construction costs have gone up, and organisations have had to put huge amounts into building safety,” he says. “A lot of associations have had to pause their development work.”

Yet despite these challenges, we’ve continued pushing forward for our residents.

“We’ve been fortunate,” Paul explains. “We haven’t needed as much building safety funding as others, and our partners have been great. Working together has kept things moving.”

This spirit of collaboration is essential for Paul and his teams, especially with our joint-venture partnerships for large-scale projects like Teviot and Aberfeldy. Through close working relationships with developers, we’re able to share funding, skills and resources to deliver long-term regeneration.

For Paul, progress in a tough environment always comes back to the relationships that make his work possible.

Staying rooted in our community

Paul’s journey through regeneration, development and a £150m investment programme gives him deep knowledge of our neighbourhoods and the people who live in them. In his first role at HARCA, he spent a lot of time working in residents’ homes. And as a Tower Hamlets local himself, growing up on a council estate, those relationships have always mattered to him.

“Residents are the most important people to us,” he says. “They know what works in their neighbourhoods, so listening to what they have to say is essential.”

He builds the same trust with our partners too, meeting regularly with senior leaders and development teams at organisations such as Telford’s, Hill and Willmott Dixon.

A little more behind the scenes

Paul’s weekdays begin very early, with him often arriving at work well before the rest of the office.

“I’m usually in early,” he laughs. “And once a week I play tennis at 7am with Ben Lloyd (our Director of Finance).”

To unwind, he likes to cook – especially with seasonal ingredients.

“If you have great ingredients, you don’t need to do much. Springtime is my favourite. I love foraging for wild garlic from Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park. I make a soup with it that I jokingly call ‘dead man’s soup!’”

So, if he wasn’t working in housing? Paul says he’d be a chef.

Want to read more from our ‘Behind the scenes’ leadership series?

Find out more here.