Glasgow Housing Association has a new boss in a move widely expected to see the organisation enter a new chapter.

Martin Armstrong has been named as chief executive, two months after former head Taroub Zahran quit following months of pressure from the Scottish Housing Regulator, the city council and the Scottish Government.

Mr Armstrong has been interim chief since October, with housing sector insiders claiming he has “achieved more in the past two months as acting CEO than all the previous chiefs put together over the past six years”.

Mr Armstrong joined GHA in January 2008 from West Lothian Council, where he was director of customer and support services.

He has spent almost 20 years working in housing departments across the UK, from Surrey to Moray Council.

GHA tenant chairwoman Sandra Forsythe said: “It is no exaggeration to say this position attracted a very high-calibre range of candidates from across the UK.

“I’m delighted to confirm Martin was the unanimous choice of the GHA board as the person best suited to lead us through this next, very important phase in our history.

“In his previous GHA role, he made his mark by greatly improving the quality and range of services we provide to our customers.”

Mr Armstrong, 44, said: “I am absolutely determined, as are my colleagues throughout this organisation, to create better homes, better communities and, ultimately, better lives for the people we serve.”

The move has been welcomed by agencies and organisations which bombarded the landlord with criticisms over issues such as the hand-over of housing stock to smaller housing associations during the regime headed by Ms Zahran.