Homes England regional leaders: delivery model and pipeline insights for engineers
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell
First reported on The Construction Index
30 Second Briefing
Homes England has appointed five executive regional directors – Danielle Gillespie (northwest), Tom Bridges (northeast, Yorkshire and Humber), Jo Nugent (Midlands), Vicky Savage (London and east) and Kate McBride (south) – ahead of a new regional operating model starting in April 2026. The directors, expected to take up post from March 2026, will own regional development pipelines and sub‑regional programmes, spanning large-scale placemaking, growth partnerships and affordable housing schemes. Delivery teams will be backed by a nationally managed technical office and access to the National Housing Bank to align land and investment with local priorities.
Technical Brief
- New regional operating model is scheduled to go live nationally in April 2026.
- Executive regional directors are anticipated to step into post from March 2026, ahead of go‑live.
- Danielle Gillespie moves from director of regeneration, partnerships and major projects into the northwest role.
- Tom Bridges joins from Arup, where he led UK government business, to head northeast, Yorkshire and Humber.
- Jo Nugent transitions from acting executive director of markets, partners and places into the Midlands brief.
- Vicky Savage arrives from London Borough of Camden, previously executive director of development and sales at L&Q.
- Kate McBride is promoted from regional development director for the south to executive regional director for the south.
- Nationally managed technical office and National Housing Bank will be deployed as shared resources across all five regions.
Our Take
Homes England’s shift to a five‑director regional model from March–April 2026 aligns with a wider reorganisation trend among UK built‑environment bodies, mirrored by Arup’s significant internal restructuring and redundancy spend reported for the year to March 2025.
With 10 strategic place partnerships already in place across regions such as the Midlands, London and the north of England, the new regional operating structure is likely to hard‑wire those agreements into decision‑making, giving local authorities like the London Borough of Camden clearer escalation routes on complex housing and regeneration schemes.
In our infrastructure coverage, Homes England appears less frequently than major contractors but is often a gatekeeper for enabling works and land assembly; this kind of regional leadership reset typically precedes a more assertive stance on scheme selection and performance management for partner housing associations such as L&Q.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
Related Articles
Related Industries & Products
Mining
Geotechnical software solutions for mining operations including CMRR analysis, hydrogeological testing, and data management.
Construction
Quality control software for construction companies with material testing, batch tracking, and compliance management.
CMRR-io
Streamline coal mine roof stability assessments with our cloud-based CMRR software featuring automated calculations, multi-scenario analysis, and collaborative workflows.
HYDROGEO-io
Comprehensive hydrogeological testing platform for managing, analysing, and reporting on packer tests, lugeon values, and hydraulic conductivity assessments.
GEODB-io
Centralised geotechnical data management solution for storing, accessing, and analysing all your site investigation and material testing data.