Making homes happen

Sir Bob Kerslake has helped Sheffield city council become a top performing authority. He talks to Alison Purdy about turning his hand to tackling England’s housing crisis.

Sir Bob Kerslake has a lot on his plate. Not only is he preparing to bid farewell to Sheffield city council where he has been chief executive for the past decade, but he has recently been appointed to head up the government’s new Homes and Communities Agency (HCA). The agency is the result of a merger of the Housing Corporation, which funds social housing, and the national regeneration agency, English Partnerships. As head of the HCA, it will be Sir Bob’s job to oversee the delivery of the government’s target of three million new homes in England by 2020. The agency will be starting from scratch, so before he gets to work on solving the country’s housing crisis, he will have to ensure the new body is up and running and fit for purpose.

Making a difference
It is a huge task but that’s its appeal, says Sir Bob (pictured). “It is the fact that it is a very big challenge on a very important agenda – the opportunity for individuals to live in the housing they want, in the area they want to live in. It felt like something where you could make a real difference,” he says. He is no stranger to taking on tough tasks. He goes to the new agency from a council that has seen a dramatic reversal of its fortunes since he took over at the top.

When Sir Bob arrived in South Yorkshire’s ‘city of steel’, the council was in a financial crisis. It had amassed massive debts from eye-catching projects such as the 1991 student games and was struggling to fund a new tram system. The new chief executive set about reorganising council finances and crucially, yet controversially for the traditionally Labour area, outsourcing some services. Now the council is one of the top performing authorities in the country and has recently been awarded a four star rating in the Audit Commission’s comprehensive performance assessment.

Experience
Sir Bob believes his local government background will stand him in good stead for the challenges that lie ahead at the HCA.

“Having a local authority background means I have a good understanding of the challenges and issues that face local authorities and how they work. In particular, the fact they work across agendas is something I am familiar with.

“However I do not want to make the assumption that every authority is like the ones I have worked for. Part of the job will be for me to get out and see how things are for individual authorities,” he adds.

Sheffield’s chief executive is certain that the creation of the new agency will bring significant benefits to local authorities – including a ‘single conversation’ on housing and regeneration, plus technical know-how, support and advice to help councils reach their goals.

“At the moment there are individual conversations on affordable housing with one group of people, regeneration schemes with another and maybe housing growth with another,” says Sir Bob. “The agency will provide a single conversation across a range of issues.”

While he admits he will miss the close working relationships he has built up during his time in Sheffield, he believes the lessons learned will provide a good foundation for his future work.

“My experiences in Sheffield have been very much about the revitalisation of a city and bringing it back to its full strength. What I have learned is it is important to tackle social, environmental and economic issues in the round and the importance of partnership working collaboratively with others.

“I have been very closely involved with making regeneration happen. That will be very important in my new role,” he concludes.