Real estate leaders have paid tribute to Lord Kerslake, the former civil service head and regeneration specialist, who died on 1 July aged 68 after what his family called a “short battle” with cancer.
Bob Kerslake’s lifetime of public service began at the Greater London Council and Hounslow Council before he became chief executive of Sheffield City Council in 2007, then chief executive of the Homes and Communities Agency. From there he became the permanent secretary of the Department for Communities and Local Government and head of the civil service under David Cameron.
Among his more recent portfolio of roles, Kerslake was chair of housing association Peabody since 2015, a role he was due to hold until next year.
Ian McDermott, chief executive of Peabody, said: “This is incredibly sad news, and all our thoughts are with Bob’s family at this difficult time.
“Those who knew him were truly inspired by his exceptional talent, strong work ethic and, above all, his humanity and kindness. He was a remarkable individual, and I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to know him over the past two years. His absence will be deeply felt within Peabody and across the UK.”
“Energy, acumen and commitment”
At Be First, the urban regeneration arm of Barking and Dagenham Council that Kerslake chaired since 2017, non-executive director Ceri Richards and managing director Geoff Raw said in a joint statement: “Those of us who have worked with Bob over the years have lost a great friend and trusted colleague, and we are deeply sad at his death. He brought tremendous energy, acumen and commitment to his work in transforming Barking and Dagenham, and the best way we can celebrate his life and honour his contribution is to deliver on that ambition.”
Pete Gladwell, group social impact and investment director at Legal & General, described Kerslake in a social media post as “a role model, hero and leader” and “someone whose generous time and advice I always hugely valued”.
National Housing Federation chief executive Kate Henderson 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 TCPA and more recently at the NHF.”
A call to arms
In an interview with EG in 2021, as he helped to launch the UKREiiF conference, Kerslake urged government to grasp the potential of the real estate industry in driving the levelling-up agenda and the country’s economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We need to signal the importance of real estate in this country as part of the economy,” Kerslake said. “It’s important for business, but it’s actually important for the public sector as well, because it’s part of how we grow – economic growth, new jobs, new homes. So it’s part of inclusive growth as well as being part of the commercial business sector.”
He also believed the general public was often unaware of how real estate and development can help to change lives.
“When they think of development, they tend to think of it as being about exclusive offices or high-rise flats, but in reality development is also about genuinely improving places to the benefit of everyone,” he said, adding: “I’ve been involved in regeneration in Sheffield and other places, and absolutely, our aim is both to improve the physical environment, increase the business opportunities, but also increase the opportunities for those who have previously not benefited from growth. An inclusive approach.”
He is survived by his wife Anne and children Michael and Eleanor. In a tweet, Eleanor said: “Dad had a few jobs in his time but the most important to him was being a truly fantastic husband, dad, brother, son and grandad.”
Sharing a lifetime of experience
There were no airs and graces with Lord Kerslake, just a lifetime of knowledge and experience and the generosity of spirit to share it – and to make way for a new generation of talent, writes EG’s senior writer, Julia Cahill
“Just call me Bob, that would be fine,” he told me at the start of what might have turned into a strained Teams interview in May 2021, when the UK was still stumbling its way out of successive Covid-19 lockdowns and restrictions.
For someone who knew better than most the challenges involved in bringing the public and private sectors together, Kerslake held on to a remarkable drive and belief that, done well, such partnerships were the most effective way to deliver genuine and lasting improvement in people’s lives. “A desire to get things done – that’s what has driven me for most of my career,” he told me. That was far more important to him than party politics. “I think this is genuinely an agenda that cuts across all parties and cuts across the public and the private sectors – it’s not just one or the other, it’s both,” he said.
Equally striking was his understanding – as a white man, then aged 66 – of the diversity crisis facing the real estate industry. The interview had been scheduled to discuss Kerslake’s involvement in the launch of the UKREiiF conference, and he was at pains to stress his determination that this should be an event for all. “We want to bring young people into the sector. We want to bring in people from Black and minority ethnic groups. We want to bring in more women,” he said.
For him, it was all part of the bigger picture. In other words, without diversity how could the industry “create places that work for people of all kinds”? Bob got it, he understood, and – through his many roles – he genuinely made a difference.
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From the archives: The EG Interview – Lord Kerslake on inclusive growth
