National Housing Bank appoints four industry leaders to executive team
Quartet of highly experienced leaders join bank on a mission to accelerate housing delivery though purpose-led finance
Steve Willingham, Jennifer Murray, Barry Fowler, Conan McKenzie
Four senior leaders with extensive investment and real estate expertise are to join the National Housing Bank, a Homes England company.
They have been appointed to executive roles at the newly launched Public Finance Institution, which is focused on accelerating the delivery of new homes and communities across England through crowding in over £50 billion of private capital to deliver more than 500,000 homes.
The bank, which launched in April 2026, has confirmed the following appointments and posts following a rigorous interview process:
Steve Willingham, Executive Director, Debt.
Currently Head of Global Investment Partnerships – Debt at DRC Savills Investment Management, Steve has more than 35 years of experience in real estate finance, including as Global Head of Real Estate Finance for HSBC in London and Hong Kong and as a Managing Director at Blackrock and Merrill Lynch. He brings deep expertise across debt, structured finance and global capital markets.
Steve said:
I am delighted to be joining the National Housing Bank as part of the senior leadership team tasked with accelerating housing delivery across England, building on the groundwork and momentum that has been created already. This is a unique opportunity to make a difference in a nationally important field.
Jennifer Murray, Executive Director, Equity.
Jennifer is currently Director of Products, Equity and Partnerships for Homes England and the National Housing Bank. She has more than 25 years of experience in real estate investment, fund management, and institutional partnerships. Since joining Homes England in 2018, Jennifer has held a number of senior roles, including Assistant Director, Partnerships & Equity, and Head of Institutional Investment. Prior to joining Homes England, she held various senior property fund management roles at Tesco Pension Investment and Schroders.
Jennifer said:
I originally joined Homes England because I believe firmly in the virtuous circle that pension fund and insurance investment in housing can create. Along the way we have built both a team and an investment platform that aligns financial innovation with purpose, delivering outcomes that benefit investors, residents, and society alike. It’s a privilege to continue that mission for the National Housing Bank.
Barry Fowler, Executive Director, Guarantees.
Bringing significant experience in real estate finance and investment, Barry has held senior leadership roles at Aviva Investors, including Director, Insurance & Investment Solutions and Managing Director, Alternative Income, Real Assets, where he was responsible for developing and delivering investment strategies across real asset classes. Prior to Aviva he was Head of Corporate Real Estate at Lloyds Banking Group.
Barry said:
This is a rare opportunity to apply my experience in structured investment leadership to an institution with the scale and ambition to genuinely shift outcomes in the housing market.
Conan McKenzie, Chief Investment Officer.
Currently a Managing Director and portfolio manager at BlackRock, Conan has extensive experience in multi-asset investing and portfolio construction. He specialises in managing diversified strategies which blend multiple asset classes to achieve target outcomes. He has also been involved in illiquid and alternative investments for more than a decade, leading a number of large investments into infrastructure and real estate. He has been with BlackRock since 2011, initially joining as a research analyst within the Multi-Asset Strategies division.
Conan said:
We have an incredible opportunity to use our large capital base to make a significant positive impact on housing delivery, along with a positive financial return for the taxpayer. A decent, stable place to call home is the foundation that lets people flourish, and it’s a privilege to use the tools of investment to deliver that for more and more people.
Powered by Homes England expertise, the bank aims to support the delivery of more than 500,000 homes and a raft of major regeneration and mixed-use schemes, alongside unlocking more than £53 billion of private investment over the next ten years.
National Housing Bank CEO, Simon Century, said:
I am delighted we have secured the formidable skills, knowledge and experience that Steve, Jennifer, Barry and Conan bring as leaders in their own right – and excited to come together as a collective to ensure the bank, together with Homes England colleagues, builds on early successes to achieve its aims at pace and with maximum effect.
Like all colleagues working for this new institution and the broader agency, we are united by a strong, purpose-driven mission to accelerate the delivery of new homes and regenerated places people want and need. These appointments mean we are in a strong position to achieve that and more, and I am looking forward to working with them as part of an outstanding team.
National Housing Bank Chair, Peter Vernon, said:
I am pleased to see four highly talented, experienced individuals coming together to become key leaders within the bank, which has already hit the ground running with a clear, mission-driven focus that has yielded positive, early results.
The board will continue to provide support, strong governance and guidance to Simon and his team as it takes full shape to ensure the bank continues to deliver effectively and at pace for the good of places and communities across the country.
The new appointees are expected to take up their roles by the end of September.
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Notes to editors
About the National Housing Bank
The National Housing Bank, a Homes England company, is a government-backed public finance institution providing purpose-led finance to accelerate housing delivery and regeneration across England.
Over the next decade, it will invest up to £16 billion through debt, equity, and guarantee products, stepping in where the market cannot, and aims to attract more than £50bn of private capital to enable more homes, stronger places and thriving, sustainable communities.
The bank offers partners tailored and blended finance solutions alongside the full range of Homes England support. Its delegations and flexible approach means it can respond with agility to shifting market conditions, ensuring investment reaches the areas of greatest need. Learn more: National Housing Bank - GOV.UK
About Homes England
Homes England, the government’s housing and regeneration agency, exists to drive the creation of more affordable, quality homes and thriving places so that everyone has a place to live and grow.
It makes this happen by working in partnership with thousands of organisations of all sizes, using its powers, expertise, land, capital and influence to bring investment to communities and get more quality homes built.
Learn more: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/homes-england/about
Biography: Steve Willingham, National Housing Bank Executive Director, Debt
Steve has more than 30 years of experience in real estate finance, with deep expertise across debt, structured finance and global capital markets. He is currently Head of Global Investment Partnerships – Debt at DRC Savills Investment Management.
Prior to this, Steve spent more than a decade at HSBC, where he held several senior leadership roles in London and Hong Kong including Global Head of Real Estate Finance and Global Co-Head of Event Financing across infrastructure and real estate. His earlier experience includes senior positions at BlackRock, MGPA and Merrill Lynch, as well as a long tenure at Nationwide Building Society, where he led Structured Property Finance. Steve holds an MBA from Henley Management College.
Biography: Jennifer Murray, National Housing Bank Executive Director, Equity
Currently Director of Products, Equity and Partnerships for the National Housing Bank and Homes England, Jennifer Murray has over 25 years of experience in real estate investment, fund management, and institutional partnerships. Since joining Homes England in 2018, Jennifer has held a number of senior roles, including Assistant Director, Partnerships & Equity, and Head of Institutional Investment, overseeing investment programmes and building strategic partnerships across the housing sector.
Earlier in her career, Jennifer was Property Fund Manager at Tesco Pension Investment, and spent 16 years at Schroders, where she held roles including Fund Manager, Property Multi-Manager, Fund Manager of the Schroder Emerging Retail Fund, and Retail Asset Manager for the Schroder Exempt Property Unit Trust. She began her career as a Surveyor at Weatherall Green & Smith, developing expertise in property valuation and advisory.
Biography: Barry Fowler, National Housing Bank Executive Director, Guarantees
Barry has very significant experience in real estate finance and investment, with a strong focus on alternative income and institutional capital. Most recently, he held a number of senior leadership roles at Aviva Investors, including Director, Insurance & Investment Solutions and Managing Director, Alternative Income, Real Assets, where he was responsible for developing and delivering investment strategies across real asset classes.
During his time at Aviva Investors, Barry also held governance roles including Director of the Supervisory Board of its Luxembourg business and Board Director with CEO (SMF1) responsibilities for its UK fund services entity.
In addition, Barry served as a Board Director and Past Chair of CREFC Europe, contributing to the development of the European real estate finance market. Earlier in his career, he was Head of Corporate Real Estate at Lloyds Banking Group, where he led real estate lending and client coverage activities.
Biography: Conan McKenzie, National Housing Bank, Chief Investment Officer
Conan is a Managing Director at BlackRock, with extensive experience in multi-asset investing and portfolio construction. He specialises in managing highly diversified funds and mandates , with a particular emphasis on ESG integration and alternative investments, and has made a number of investments into residential housing.
He has been with BlackRock since 2011, initially joining as a research analyst within the Multi-Asset Strategies division. Over this time, he has been responsible for managing or co-managing more than £10bn of multi-asset portfolios on behalf of pension schemes, charities and retail investors around the world. In particular he has led BlackRock’s successful suite of multi-asset charity funds for twelve years, and grew a multi-asset ESG fund to over 6bn euros through consistent first quartile investment performance.
In addition, he leads his team’s research coverage of alternative investments, with a particular focus on illiquid asset classes. He has made significant and successful investments into UK infrastructure and real estate over the last twelve years.
Press Office Contact Details
Email: media@homesengland.gov.uk
Phone: 0207 874 8262
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