Homes England hires senior MHCLG civil servant as chief operating officer

Homes England has announced the appointment of Melanie Montanari as its new chief operating officer.

Montanari joins the agency from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) where she has worked for seven years including most recently as director of housing strategy and markets. She also worked for the Treasury between 2006 and 2019 in a number of roles, including as a speechwriter and private secretary to then chancellor George Osborne.

Montanari succeeds Kirsty Shaw, who is leaving Homes England to become chief operating officer at University of Bath.

Montanari, who begins her role in September, will join Homes England as it gears up to deliver the £27bn of funding that is available through the Social and Affordable Homes Programme outside of London.

The agency has been in the headlines in recent weeks for asking registered providers to “reprofile” their SAHP bids so that less grant is paid out in the early years of the 10-year programme in order to meet Treasury guidelines. The National Housing Federation has asked government to bring forward more of the funding.

Amy Rees, chief executive of Homes England, said: “Melanie brings a wealth of operational leadership experience and a strong track record of delivering organisational transformation and performance improvement.

“As we continue to accelerate delivery and support our partners to achieve ambitious housing and regeneration outcomes, her expertise will be invaluable in ensuring we have the capabilities, systems and support in place to deliver at scale.”