Our people

Nick Apetroaie - Chief Executive

Nick Apetroaie joined Habinteg in April 2021 having held a number of senior positions in the social housing sector.

Prior to joining Habinteg, Nick was Executive Director for Care, Education and Safeguarding for the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) - a role he held for three years.
Before RNIB, Nick spent nine years at 16,000 home Viridian Housing, including time as Care Director and Property Director, culminating in three years as CEO.

During his time at Viridian, Nick played a key part in the merger between Viridian and Amicus Horizon Housing Association. The merger created large London housing association Optivo, where Nick was deputy chief executive for a short period.
 

Nic Bungay – Director of Housing and Assets

Nic Bungay has over 16 years’ experience in the charitable and public affairs sector. In his previous position as Director of the Care, Campaigns and Information at Muscular Dystrophy UK (MDUK), Nic led on a range of initiatives to improve the independence and quality of life for individuals and families living with muscle-wasting conditions across the UK.

During his eleven years at MDUK, he established the Trailblazers, a UK wide campaigning network of young disabled people and led a nationwide campaign to ensure approval by the NHS for the first drug to treat an underlying genetic cause of muscular dystrophy. Previously Nic held a number of parliamentary roles within the House of Commons working for two MPs.

Nic joined Habinteg as Director of Strategy and External Affairs in Nov 2018 leading Habinteg’s influencing and policy agenda in the accessible housing sector. He served as Interim Director of Operations from August 2021, before accepting his current role.
 

Christina McGill - Director of Social Impact and External Affairs 

Christina is passionate about the positive impact that accessible homes can have on people’s lives. Prior to her recent appointment, she was the Interim Director of Strategy and External Affairs. She also led the Communications and Marketing team as Head of Communications, masterminding the introduction and development of the multi-award-winning #ForAccessibleHomes campaign.

In her 10 years with Habinteg, Christina has overseen delivery of numerous reports and briefings to support our campaign to increase the supply of accessible homes, as well as a raft of government consultation work and parliamentary engagement. She now also leads Habinteg’s in-house training and consultancy service, the Centre for Accessible Environments.

Before Habinteg, Christina held long term communications and leadership roles in the charity sector. She began her career in the PR team at Scope and later served as Head of Communications at Breast Cancer Care.
 

Kerry Tromanhauser - Director of Corporate Assurance and Governance 

A barrister and solicitor by training, Kerry has worked almost exclusively in the social housing sector since immigrating to the U.K in 2004. He has had held a number of senior roles with registered providers of varying sizes. With a focus on risk, governance and change, Kerry has delivered a large-scale change programme on data governance & technology and assisted a number of organisations with post-merger integration. He also helped the Kensington & Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation with crisis management, business stabilisation and project managed the transfer of services back to the council following the Grenfell tragedy.   

A passionate advocate for equality, diversity and inclusion, Kerry had been involved in advocacy for numerous groups and successfully helped influence the progression of same-sex rights in Canada. 

Kerry is also Vice-Chair of Soho Housing Association and has been a Royal Naval Reservist specialising in media operations for 15 years. 
 

Martin Warhurst - Chief Financial Officer

Martin has over 23 years of experience within the social housing sector, with a particular passion for accessible, lifetime homes in inclusive communities. 

Previously, Martin was the Executive Director of Resources at Wakefield District Housing Association, Chief Executive of Martin House Children's Hospice and prior to that an Executive Director at Isos Housing Group (now Karbon Homes) where he was Managing Director of Cestria Community Housing Association following several years as Director of Finance and Corporate Services.

He is a Chartered Accountant and has worked within the social housing teams at KPMG and RSM Robson Rhodes, who later merged with Grant Thornton. 

Martin has demonstrated his commitment to the not-for-profit sector by holding several voluntary audit committee, trustee and board positions. He is currently a Board Member at Leeds Federated Housing Association, where he chairs the Audit and Risk Committee.
 

 

Eleanor Southwood MBE – Chair

As Cabinet Member for Housing at a London borough, Eleanor Southwood has hands-on experience of the issues facing social housing providers, including the building safety agenda and the demands of decarbonisation.

Eleanor also has experience of the challenges disabled people face when seeking suitable housing, gained from her work as the former Chair of Royal National Institute of Blind People, and through her own lived experience as a disabled person.

 

Mark Atkinson – Chair of the People, Culture and Governance Committee (PCGC) and Vice Chair

Mark joined Habinteg’s board in January 2020 and was appointed Chair of the People, Culture and Governance Committee in July 2020, and Vice Chair of the Board in November 2022.
 
Mark is an experienced and senior social sector leader with a strong record of enabling organisations to define their strategy, transform their operations and deliver their commitments. Mark brings considerable experience of leading business change, refocus and growth through a number of executive and non-executive roles. He is currently Director General of the Royal British Legion which follows five years as Chief Executive of RNID and three and a half years as Chief Executive of Scope. 
 
Mark has held non-executive roles with the Social Care Institute for Excellence, Comic Relief and Prisoners Abroad.

 

Nichola Wilden - Chair of the Investment Committee

Nicky is a Chartered Accountant with over 30 years’ of experience in the real estate sector.  She is currently a non-executive member and Chair of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee at HM Courts & Tribunals Service and has previously held board member roles within the social housing sector at Central and Cecil Housing Trust, where she was also Chair of the Group Risk & Audit Committee and as Vice-Chair of Origin Housing Association, where she was also Chair of the Governance and Remuneration Committee.

Nicky was appointed as Chair of the Investment Committee and Chair of the Board of Habinteg’s Subsidiary Company (Holyer Developments Limited) in May 2023. Her executive roles have included as a director in the corporate finance teams of two of the top global property service providers, corporate finance director of an Aim listed property development company, and CFO of one of the largest private property investment companies in the UK. 
 

John Knight CBE - Member

John Knight’s career has spanned the voluntary and statutory sectors including the Department of Health, Leonard Cheshire Disability and the Commission for Public Appointments. He held National Board level directorships of the Commission for Social Care Inspection (now part of the Care Quality Commission); the Charity Commission and the General Social Care Council.

Previously, John was a Governor of a London NHS Foundation Trust, an adviser on disability issues to the Board of the Civil Service Commission, a Magistrate for 28 years, and a Public Appointments Assessor for the Commissioner for Public Appointments. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Nottingham University for public service. John has a lived experience of disability.

 

Simon Clark - Member

 Simon Clark is currently Group Director – Housing at Sanctuary Group, a national housing and care registered provider. He has over 35 years’ experience of social housing, across a diverse range of sectors including Affordable Housing, Student Accommodation, Supported Living and Asset Management.

Simon is a passionate advocate for great customer experience, he has broad experience of transformational change and service growth. He has held governance roles within this and third sector agencies for over 20 years. Simon also speaks on a range of housing-related issues, including homelessness and regeneration.

 

 Christine Marsters - Member

Chris joined the Board in 2022.  Chris has spent 25+ years running digital services for a number of organisations both small and large including Shell Energy, Vodafone, and the Financial Times.  Chris brings a wealth of experience in defining and delivering digital strategies with a consistent focus on what’s right for the customer.  She is looking forward to working with Habinteg tenants to ensure that their voice is heard in the development of our strategy & plans.

 

Julie Jones CBE - Chair of the Audit, Risk and Assurance Committee (ARAC)

Julie has had a long career in local government and the third sector. She was Director of  Social Services in Westminster and president of the ADSS in 2005/6. For 5 years she was CEO of the Social Care Institute for Excellence ( SCIE). She has held board-level roles in housing, social care, education, safeguarding, and health.

She has recently retired from the specialist supported housing provider,  Look Ahead, where she was  Chair of the board. Julie was awarded an OBE in 2003 and a CBE in 2009.
 

Rajesh Gupta - Member

Rajesh joined Habinteg’s board in January 2023. He is a strategic business leader with over 20 years of involvement in the retail sector and brings experience in leading business growth through international expansion, digital transformation, use of data, and a relentless focus on end-to-end customer outcomes.

Rajesh is also a qualified Chartered Accountant with extensive experience in audit, accounting, tax, and commercial decision support and is also a passionate champion for diversity and inclusion in the workplace. 
 

Nick Apetroaie - Chief Executive

Nick Apetroaie joined Habinteg in April 2021 having held a number of senior positions in the social housing sector.

Prior to joining Habinteg, Nick was Executive Director for Care, Education and Safeguarding for the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) - a role he held for three years.
Before RNIB, Nick spent nine years at 16,000 home Viridian Housing, including time as Care Director and Property Director, culminating in three years as CEO.

During his time at Viridian, Nick played a key part in the merger between Viridian and Amicus Horizon Housing Association. The merger created large London housing association Optivo, where Nick was deputy chief executive for a short period.

 

Find out more about Board Members' interests in our  Board and Committee Members Register of Interests Declared June 2024.pdf 144KB.

Working at Habinteg

We believe that mutual commitment and shared responsibility is key. We are an equal opportunities employer and aim to be an employer of choice. Everything we do is underpinned by our four cultural values: Agile, Accountable, Ambitious and Attentive.

We offer a comprehensive and person-centred employment package to our staff. This includes:

• Flexible approach to working week including full-time, part-time and job-sharing possibilities.
• Welcoming, accessible work environments including remote working
• Training and development programme
• Ethical pension scheme from the Pensions Trust - we match up to 10%
• Life assurance scheme
• Free eye test & contribution towards glasses
• Cycle scheme
• Subscription payment
• Company subscription to Simply Health & Rewards
• Bonus 'Habinteg Day' off to take at any point in the year!

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Leader and welcome candidates with disabilities, long-term health conditions to apply for our roles. We encourage job-seekers from all backgrounds and experiences to express their interest, and to contact us at recruitment@habinteg.org.uk if you would like to chat to us or discuss reasonable adjustments for your application or interview process.