Kate Henderson
Chief Executive, National Housing Federation

Kate is Chief Executive of the National Housing Federation (NHF), the voice of housing associations in England. Kate is passionate about tackling the housing crisis, inequality and climate change. She is a member of several government panels including the Rough Sleeping Advisory Panel and the Social Housing White Paper Expert Challenge Panel. Kate become a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in 2021. Prior to joining the NHF in 2018, Kate was Chief Executive of the Town and Country Planning Association.

Pooja Agrawal
Chief Executive Officer, Public Practice

Nick Atkin
Chief Executive, Yorkshire Housing

Nick has a track record of leading organisations through transformational change, driving performance improvement, with a focus on maximising the untapped potential from businesses and people. Born and brought up in Doncaster he joined Yorkshire Housing in 2019. Since this time, he’s delivered transformational change throughout the business to meet the future opportunities and challenges. Nick has previously introduced a fully flexible/ remote working approach. He also led the move to 90% of customer led transactions to be delivered through online self-service channels. He is a keen advocate of innovation and uses digital as an enabler to drive fundamental change in how businesses operate. He is also a disruptor in the ‘future of work’ debate and has been paperless for 19 years.

Laura Atkinson
Senior Rural Housing Enabler & Community Led Housing Advisor, Rural Community Council of Essex

Laura Atkinson is Senior Rural Housing Enabler and Community Led Housing Advisor at the Rural Community Council of Essex (RCCE). With over eight years’ experience championing affordable housing in rural communities Laura works closely with Parish Councils, Housing Associations, and Local Authorities to bring forward rural affordable housing including exception site and Community Led housing schemes. Laura is experienced in community engagement, helping overcome planning and funding challenges with the aim of delivering homes that meet local needs. Laura is a passionate advocate for rural communities, known for building strong partnerships and championing sustainable development. Laura supports other rural housing enablers across the country and is regularly asked to speak at events.

Tanya Bass
Policy Leader, National Housing Federation

Tanya Bass leads policy on Supply and Planning at the National Housing Federation. She joined in June 2025 from Canada’s Ontario public service, where she shaped social housing policy.

Brian Berry
Chief Executive, Federation of Master Builders

Brian Berry is the Chief Executive of the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), the largest trade association for SME building companies in the building industry. He is also a member of the Construction Leadership Council (CLC). Prior to his current position Brian was Director of External Affairs at the FMB. Before the FMB, Brian worked at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), where he was Head of UK Public Policy, and as a teacher at The Charterhouse Square School in central London. Brian is a Freeman of the City of London, a Director of the Tiverton Almshouse Trust, and a Trustee of YouthBuild UK. He regularly provides commentary on construction issues for the media.

Simon Century
Chief Investment Officer, Homes England

Simon Century joined Homes England in 2025 as Chief Investment Officer.

He is responsible for leading the agency’s investment strategy and partnerships to accelerate housing delivery nationwide.

Prior to joining, Simon spent nine years at Legal & General as managing director, where he built and grew multiple housing businesses across social and affordable housing, build to rent, senior living, and build to sale, as well as pioneering platforms for modern methods of construction.

Simon began his career at investment and advisory firm TradeRisks and later at the affordable housing provider bpha, leading corporate strategy and finance.

He is a full member of the Association of Corporate Treasurers, holds a certificate in investment management from the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment, and has a psychology degree from the University of Liverpool.

Rachael Dennis
Group Chief Executive, Incommunities

Paul Edwards
Chief Executive Officer, Representative, CHP, BuildEast

Paul joined CHP in 2016 and became Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Financial Officer in 2019. He was appointed as Chief Executive Officer in 2022. With over 20 years in the housing sector, Paul has a wealth of experience. He spent six years as Director of Resources at Havebury Housing Partnership and nine years prior to that as Director of Treasury Services at Swan Housing Group. He has also previously served as a non-executive director at Welwyn Hatfield Community Housing Trust and Circle 33 Housing and is currently a Board member at Local Space. Paul is a member of the NHF’s Financial Policy Advisory Group (FPAG) and a member of the SORP working party, which is responsible for setting the accounting standards for the sector. He is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. Paul has been instrumental in maintaining our ‘A-’ credit rating from S&P Global and G1 grading for governance from the Regulator of Social Housing. In 2021 he oversaw the issuing of a bond tap which raised £69m to support the delivery of affordable homes across the eastern region.

Paul Fiddaman
Group Chief Executive, Karbon Homes

Paul is the Group Chief Executive of Karbon Homes, an organisation with close to 30,000 homes and 800 staff in the north east of England and Yorkshire. Paul qualified as a chartered accountant with Price Waterhouse (now PwC) before joining Sunderland Football Club as Financial Controller and then Secretary and General Manager in 1992. He became involved in housing as a board member and moved into the sector to become Director of Finance and Development with Enterprise 5 Housing Association in 1996. He has been involved in housing ever since in various senior roles, becoming Chief Executive of Isos Housing before it merged to become Karbon Homes in April 2017.

Miranda Foster
Head of Affordable Housing Programme, Homes England

Miranda is the Head of the Technical Hub team at Homes England. The Technical Hub is responsible for grant funding programme development and management. The team acts as the guardian for grant investment, leading on the stewardship, governance and operational control framework for delivery. The team also leads on strategic business and programme planning working closely with Government stakeholders to develop new products and funding initiatives. Previously she worked for a housing association looking after the sales and post sales teams, and prior to this her career was in banking.

Kelly Hillman
Group Director, Vistry Group

Shahi Islam
Director of Affordable Housing, Homes England

Shahi Islam is Homes England’s Director of Affordable Housing responsible for delivering the Affordable Homes Programme. Shahi has been at Homes England since 2013, serving in various leadership positions to support the management and delivery of a number of capital and revenue programmes. With close to 20 years in the sector, Shahi has extensive experience in housing working in roles covering policy, strategy and programmes. Prior to the Agency he worked at the Greater London Authority working in the housing investments and policy team.

Philip Jenkins
Chief Investment Officer, Peabody

Philip joined Peabody with the Catalyst merger having been the Group Director of Development. With a property development career spanning more than three decades across the private, public and not-for-profit sectors, he brings a wealth of housing experience. He’s also worked for companies including Taylor Wimpey, CityWest Homes, The John Lewis Partnership and SPAR.

Jonathan Layzell
Chief Executive, Stonewater

Jonathan Layzell was appointed Chief Executive of Stonewater in June 2025. A respected sector leader with over 20 years’ experience, Jonathan brings deep expertise in affordable housing, customer service transformation, and strategic growth. Before becoming CEO, Jonathan led Stonewater’s national housebuilding programme—delivering more than 1,000 new homes every year—and spearheaded major mergers and acquisitions. He also held interim responsibility for the Customer Directorate, supporting services for over 93,000 customers. Jonathan has led nationally significant bids, including securing over £500 million in funding for Stonewater from Homes England, and has pioneered initiatives in sustainability, public art, and community investment.

Andrew Lewin MP
Member of Parliament, Welwyn Hatfield and Member of Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee

David Lewis
Executive Group Director Property and Investment, L&Q

David is Executive Director of Property and Investment at L&Q. He is responsible for ensuring residents homes are safe, comfortable and well-maintained, and for delivering high quality new social homes to help tackle the housing crisis.

This includes L&Q’s sector leading and award-winning £3bn, 15-year Major Works Investment Programme, repairs and maintenance services, and a pipeline of development and regeneration projects across Greater London and Greater Manchester.

David joined L&Q in October 2020 and was previously L&Q’s Executive Group Director of Property Services. He has three decades of experience working in social housing in senior leadership and executive property asset management roles across a wide range of organisations in London and the south-east.

David has also been a non-executive director for several housing associations and is currently a Board member at Greatwell Homes.

Katy Lock
Director of Communities, Town and Country Planning association (TCPA)

Ulrike Maccariello
Development Director, Hastoe Group

Ulrike, Hastoe’s Development Director has worked in development for almost 20 years and at Hastoe for the past 13 years. She is passionate about rural and sustainable housing.

Clare Miller
Group Chief Executive, Clarion Housing Group

Clare has been the Group Chief Executive since 2018. She is a chartered accountant with almost 30 years’ experience in the housing sector. Clare joined the Housing Corporation in 1992 as a financial regulator. Over the next 18 years progressed to become its Director of Regulation. She then became an Executive Director at the Tenant Services Authority, with responsibility for housing association regulation. In 2010 Clare joined Affinity Sutton as Group Director of Governance and Compliance. She took up the same role at Clarion in 2016, before taking on her current role two years later.

Alexandra Notay
Stategic Advisor, Housing, Placemaking

Alexandra Notay became CEO of the Housing Forum in January 2026. She is an internationally recognised expert and strategic advisor on housing, placemaking and ESG. She has 20+ years’ strategic advisory and investment experience having worked extensively across five continents. In August 2024 Alex took over the chair of the Radix Big Tent Housing Commission from Dame Kate Barker and was the lead author on its first report.

Until July 2024 she was Placemaking and Investment Director at Thriving Investments (formerly PfP Capital), the fund and asset management arm of Places for People Group, overseeing a UK-wide residential strategy.

In January 2025 Alex was awarded Honorary Membership of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI). In October 2023 she won Residential Leader of the Year at Property Week’s inaugural Inspiring Women in Property Awards.

Charlie Nunn
Chief Executive, Lloyds Banking Group

Charlie Nunn is the Group Chief Executive of Lloyds Banking Group plc, with 30 years’ experience in international financial services.

As a leader in financial innovation, institutions and markets, Charlie has a deep commitment to the digital transformation of finance in service of customers, communities and both domestic and global economies. He has lived in the United States, Europe and Asia, and worked for and with some of the world’s largest banks; as senior partner at Accenture and McKinsey, and as a senior executive at HSBC and Lloyds Banking Group for the past 13 years.

At Lloyds, Charlie launched a new strategy and operating model to deliver on the Group’s purpose of Helping Britain Prosper; enabling sustainable and inclusive growth for people and businesses across the UK. He is driving digital and AI innovation alongside modernising the ways-of-working of Lloyds’ brilliant people to deliver a step-change in the value provided to customers. Lloyds also became the first major UK bank to halt direct project finance for greenfield oil and gas developments, published its first Group Climate Transition plan with stretching sector targets that cover over 83% of lending, and is working to enable one million new homes to be built at social rent in the UK over the next ten years.

David O’Leary
Executive Director, Home Builders Federation (HBF)

Sowmya Parthasarathy
Director, Arup and Member of New Towns Taskforce

Sowmya is an architect and urban designer with 30 years of global experience. She is an Arup Fellow with a core expertise in masterplanning, urban design, and sustainable infrastructure. Sowmya is based in London, with the additional responsibility of leading Arup’s work in India, Middle East and Africa, overseeing a team of built environment specialists across the region. In this role, she engages closely with governments, municipalities, private developers, investors, institutions, and civil society to deliver a wide range of projects and programmes internationally.

In wider industry roles, Sowmya is an Ambassador of the UK Design Council, an expert on the Mayor of London's Good Growth by Design Panel, and was a member of the UK Government’s New Towns Taskforce. In these roles she advises government and local authorities on the role of regenerative design and placemaking in city and infrastructure planning. Sowmya has a Bachelor of Architecture from the School of Planning and Architecture New Delhi, a Masters in Urbanism from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, and a certificate from the Institute of Sustainability Leadership, Cambridge University.

Toby Perkins
MP for Chesterfield, and Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee

Mr Toby Perkins is the Member of Parliament for Chesterfield and the Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee. Since he was first elected in 2010, Mr Perkins has been Shadow Minister for Enterprise and Small Business, Shadow Minister for Skills and Further Education, and Shadow Minister for Nature and Rural Affairs. Before becoming an MP, Mr Perkins ran his own small business supplying rugby clothing and was a director in a social enterprise providing nursery care to one of the most deprived areas of Chesterfield.

Emma Rammel
External Affairs Director, Home Builders Federation (HBF)

Greg Reed
Group Chief Executive, Places for People

A purpose-driven senior executive, in his 30-year career, Greg has led major finance, partnership, marketing, customer service, and commercial functions in global listed companies including Bank of America and RBS Group. Before joining PfP, Greg was UK CEO for international home assistance business HomeServe. Greg is a native of Smyrna, Delaware. He graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a Batchelor of Science in Finance and then received a Juris Doctor from Delaware Law School.

Catriona Riddell
Vice Chair, Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA)

Catriona is an independent consultant providing support on a wide range of spatial planning issues but specialises in strategic planning, working with local authorities across England. She is The Planning Officers Society’s Strategic Planning Specialist and Vice Chair of the Town and Country Planning Association. In 2022 Catriona was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Town Planning Institute and awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Oxford Brookes University for her contribution to planning. She is a regular columnist for Planning Magazine and a Judge on the Planning Awards.

Catherine Ryder
Chief Executive, PlaceShapers

Catherine previously led the Federation’s work on the Social Housing Green Paper. Catherine has also worked as Advisor to the Chief Executive at the Federation and has spent some time working on economic development and housing at Coast to Capital – a Local Enterprise Partnership in Surrey and Sussex. Before joining the Federation Catherine worked at the Audit Commission as a Strategy Manager, leading the development of assessment frameworks for local government.

Michele Steele
Chief Executive, Regeneration Brainery

Regeneration Brainery is a social mobility programme for brilliant young minds, designed to get young people from diverse, under-represented backgrounds inspired about a career in property and regeneration so that the places we create are more reflective of the society we live in.

The award-winning inspirational careers programme has worked with over 7,000 young people across the UK to date, giving them unique insights into the industry through free weeklong workshops, work placements, internships, mentoring opportunities and networking events.

Michele has been Chief Executive of Regeneration Brainery since 2024, having spent almost 25 years in the property industry as a Planning Advisor, firstly at Deloitte Real Estate where she was also Head of Real Estate NW; and latterly at Vita Group/Select Property Group. She is passionate about social mobility and making the property industry more diverse – from the ground up

Jez Sweetland
Project Director, Housing Festival and Bristol City Council

Jez has initiated and managed strategic development in a variety of settings. His previous positions include CEO of Guildhall Barrister’s Chambers, and CEO of a charitable national skills training organisation. He founded the Bristol Housing Festival in 2018 and believes collaboration is the key to lasting social development. Jez lives in Bristol with his wife, Joanna and his three children.

Jonathan Walters
Deputy Chief Executive, Regulator of Social Housing

Having previously been at Ernst and Young working in social housing consultancy, Jonathan has been at the Regulator since 2004. He has worked across the organisation and has extensive experience in dealing with funders, government and housing associations.