- Lord Bob Kerslake to lead independent review to further improve delivery across GLA Group
- Review to start immediately and report in early 2022
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, today appointed Lord Bob Kerslake to lead a review to further improve and streamline housing development across the wider Greater London Authority (GLA) Group and deliver more of the genuinely affordable homes Londoners need.
During his first term as Mayor, Sadiq Khan achieved record-breaking delivery of genuinely affordable homes: with more than 17,000 low-cost homes to rent and buy started through his affordable homes programme in 2019/20, and work beginning on more new council homes than in any year since 1983.
Following his re-election, the Mayor remains committed to building on this progress by having more genuinely affordable homes built on land owned by the GLA.
The review will examine housing delivery across the GLA Group and make recommendations to enable the Group to work together more effectively and benefit from collective experience and expertise. It will provide a high-level view of housing delivery across the Group to date, identifying the number of homes built and the different routes to delivery. The review will also inform the best way to approach piloting a “City Hall developer” to further expand the supply of much-needed low-cost homes for Londoners.
A number of different parts of the GLA Group are involved in housing development, to differing extents. Transport for London (TfL), London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC), Old Oak Common and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC) have significant development teams focussed on housing delivery. Other parts of the Group (Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) and London Fire Commission (LFC)) generally take a more indirect approach, mainly concerned with disposal of surplus land which may then be used for new homes.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said: “I’m doing all I can to tackle the housing crisis in the capital, and am proud to have achieved record-breaking delivery of genuinely affordable homes during my first term as Mayor, including working with boroughs to start more new council homes than in any year since 1983.
“I’m determined to build on this success to deliver more homes for Londoners. I can think of no-one more qualified than Lord Kerslake to lead this review into how the GLA Group can strengthen its focus on delivering more genuinely affordable homes. I’m grateful to him for agreeing to bring the benefit of his passion and expertise to this subject.”
Lord Bob Kerslake said: "London urgently needs more genuinely affordable homes and I am delighted to be asked to lead this review into how the GLA's own arrangements might be streamlined and strengthened"
Notes to editors
The Review of GLA Group Housing Delivery follows from a commitment in Sadiq Khan’s 2021 election manifesto. It will report in early 2022.
The GLA Group includes:
- Transport for London (TfL): responsible for London’s transport
- Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC): oversees the work of the Metropolitan Police Service
- Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC): managing the development of a new community in west London, the UK's largest regeneration project
- The London Fire Commissioner (LFC): responsible for providing London’s fire and rescue service (the London Fire Brigade)
- London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC): responsible for managing Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
Lord Bob Kerslake is a Crossbench Peer and former Head of the Civil Service who led the then Department for Communities and Local Government from November 2010, stepping down in February 2015. Prior to his DCLG role, Lord Kerslake was the first Chief Executive of the Homes and Communities Agency, where he was responsible for promoting new and affordable housing supply. Before joining the Civil Service Lord Kerslake received a knighthood for his services to local government; spending eight years as Chief Executive of the London Borough of Hounslow and then a further 11 years as Chief Executive of Sheffield Council.
The terms of reference state that the review will:
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- provide a high level review of housing delivery across the GLA Group to date, identifying the number of homes delivered and the different routes to delivery employed
- identify the opportunities for closer working across the Group to streamline housing development by the GLA Group and consider the potential for efficiencies
- consider how the above should inform the GLA’s approach to piloting a City Hall developer, including the potential for the developer to draw on expertise and land supply from across the Group, and what model/form the developer should take
- identify the opportunities and challenges of realigning the broader GLA Group to focus land disposals on maximising housing delivery, in particular affordable housing, noting that a number of GLA Group organisations have recently adopted or are in the process of drafting estate strategies, including MOPAC/MPS
- identify the additional opportunities and challenges arising from the London Legacy Development Corporation transition
- identify the staffing and governance structures that would need to be in place to maximise housing delivery across the GLA Group, in particular affordable housing, within identified constraints
- consider how to ensure that housing development on surplus GLA Group land is maximised in London using the tools and powers held by all the functional bodies.
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The scope of the review will be confined to GLA Group organisations, not the public or private housing sector more broadly, and will conclude with a report for the Mayor of London, which will be published in full.