Wilson is head of mortgages at Ulster Bank and he replaces Dan Corr, Nationwide Building Society's Northern Ireland manager.
Wilson has worked for Ulster Bank for 25 years, and since then has seen house prices in Northern Ireland increase from £23,554 in 1980, to £129,580 in 2005. In recent years, strong house price inflation in the province has driven the number of first-time buyers into decline - from 18,200 in 2001 to just 9,200 in 2005 - and this has led to a debate about the affordability of entering home-ownership. However, compared to the rest of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland remains one of the most affordable regions, but the fact that house price growth has outstripped wage increases has curtailed the purchasing power of potential home-owners.
On taking the chair of CML Northern Ireland, Derek Wilson said: "I look forward to ensuring that the Northern Ireland committee of the CML is the representative voice of the entire mortgage industry in the province. Declining numbers of first-time buyers and the costs of entering home-ownership present lenders and other stakeholders with an enormous challenge.
"I am keen to press-on with the debate surrounding affordability, to ensure that more first-time buyers can get on to the property ladder."
