Lord Bob Kerslake, the former head of the civil service, died on Saturday following a battle with cancer.
Lord Kerslake served as the civil service head from 2012 to 2014, while also in position as permanent secretary at the Department for Communities and Local Government from 2010 to 2015, during which time he oversaw housing policy.
Having started his career in local government with the Greater London Council, Lord Kerslake would then go on to become the chief executive of Hounslow Council and then held the same position for Sheffield Council. In 2005, he was knighted for his services to local government.
In 2008, Lord Kerslake would become chief executive of the Homes and Communities Agency, a precursor to today’s Homes England, and oversaw grant funding provided to affordable housing programmes across the country.
Lord Kerslake’s commitment to and interest in housing was clear, taking on the chairmanship of the UK’s largest housing association, Peabody, in 2015 and also becoming chair of Be First, the regeneration arm of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Lord Kerslake was also appointed as chair of FuturePlaces, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council’s development company, to oversee regeneration in the area.
In 2021, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, commissioned Lord Kerslake to review the Greater London Authority’s housing delivery, which called for greater focus on land acquisition and assembly and was accepted in full.
Following the announcement of his death on Saturday, tributes have been paid to Lord Kerslake from both housing and government figures.
Sir Keir Starmer described Lord Kerslake as a “talented public servant, utmost professional, and a good man… rightly respected across Westminster for his experience and wisdom”.
Geoff Raw, managing director of Be First, said: “Those of us who have worked with Bob over the years have lost a great friend and trusted colleague and we are deeply saddened by his death. He brought tremendous energy, acumen, and commitment to his work in transforming Barking & Dagenham and the best way we can celebrate his life and honour his contribution is to deliver on that ambition.”
Kate Henderson, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, said: “Bob was a dedicated public servant who made such a positive contribution to national and local government, social housing, regeneration, homelessness, planning and much more.”
“Everyone who worked with Bob will know he was compassionate, principled and very clever. He was also kind, supportive and generous with his time and expertise, something I hugely appreciated both earlier in my career at the Town and Country PCPA and more recently at the NHF.”
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said Lord Kerslake’s “kindness and commitment to improving our city and country will always be remembered”.
Ian McDermott, chief executive of Peabody said: “We are all shocked by the sad news our chair Lord Bob Kerslake passed away yesterday after a short battle with cancer.”
“Everyone who knew Bob was truly inspired by his exceptional talent, strong work ethic, and above all, his humanity and kindness. He was a remarkable individual who worked tirelessly to improve people’s lives, and I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to know him over the past two years.
“His absence will be deeply felt across Peabody, as well as in the sector and public life in general. Our thoughts are with his wife Anne and his family.”
