Governance

The review was independent of the council. It was chaired by Lord Bob Kerslake. He was assisted by an experienced technical team including Dick Mortimer, Nalin Seneviratne and Dorian Leatham. 

The panel was supported by a small project team, comprising Lily Kwong (Senior Development Manager, Lambeth Council) and Alexis Harris (Senior Policy Officer, Greater London Authority).

About the review panel

Lord Bob Kerslake

Lord Bob Kerslake was a crossbench peer and former Head of the Civil Service. He led the Department for Communities and Local Government from 2010 to 2015 and prior to that was the first Chief Executive of the Homes and Communities Agency, where he was responsible for promoting new and affordable housing supply. He was a former Chief Executive of the London Borough of Hounslow and of Sheffield Council, and former chair of Kings College Hospital NHS Trust, Peabody Housing Association and Be First, the Housing and Regeneration body for the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham.

He chaired a review commissioned by the Mayor of London to increase the speed and scope of housing delivery on land owned by the Greater London Authority (GLA) Group.

Dick Mortimer

Dick has over 35 years in the housing sector working with and for both housing associations and local authorities. Dick had worked for Peabody since July 2017, following its merger with Family Mosaic. 

His experience is wide ranging including responsibility for development, sales, asset management and sustainability. He has been responsible for a number of major developments and asset management initiatives across the sector and had a significant part to play in Peabody in helping them to develop into one of London’s leading associations.

Well known for his frank and honest views he is looking forward to the future which will see him to continue to help deliver change, sustainable solutions and innovation across the housing sector. 

Nalin Seneviratne

Nalin has over 2 decades working at a strategic level in private sector construction and local authority property, development, and regeneration.

Nalin, originally from Liverpool, was Chief Property Officer to both Plymouth and Sheffield City Councils. While at Sheffield, Nalin led on the strategic implementation of the £470m Heart of the City development, and more recently led on the delivery of Sheffield’s City Centre strategic vision in his role as Director of City Centre Development.

Before roles in the public sector, Nalin was a director for a major construction and development company in the south west. More recently, he took up a trustee role with SAGE Sheffield, a charity providing therapeutic arts/horticulture programmes for people who's lives are greatly impacted by mental illness.

Nalin is a fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Royal Society for Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce.

Dorian Leatham

Dorian has over 30 years senior leadership in local government working at strategic and operational leadership levels in housing and regeneration in inner city urban areas. 

Dorian was Chief Executive of Hillingdon Council for 9 years and worked closely with BAA regarding the development and regeneration of Heathrow Airport. 

As well as having resided in Lambeth for over 30 years, for almost 2 years he was also Interim Executive Director of Housing, Planning, Regeneration and Environment in Lambeth. He has been Chair of the Nottingham City Housing Strategic Partnership Board. He has held numerous strategic advisory roles as well as having held numerous non-executive roles primarily in the areas of housing and regeneration.