Doctor who?

Who? was the most common response in the housing sector to the news last week that Dr Norman Perry had been appointed chief executive of the Housing Corporation.

The news that followed the corporation board meeting certainly confounded expectations. Behind the scenes, headhunters Saxton Bampfylde Hever had been instructed not to restrict their approach to any single sector in their search to replace Anthony Mayer, who left the corporation after nine years in February to take up a post at London Transport.

It was a strong field, according to the woman key to the decision to appoint Perry, corporation chairman Baroness Dean. And Perry was outstanding, Dean says.

"People were expecting a civil servant and possibly a woman," she explains, "but this man is the best for the job."

So who is he? Norman Perry admits he has cultivated a low media profile during his time at Solihull, because he believes elected members should be in the media spotlight, not officers. At the corporation, he hopes it will be Brenda Dean, rather than himself who will be featured in the bulk of picture opportunities. His CV paints a picture of a figure who has moved further into the spotlight as his career advanced. He started work in the 1960s as a geography lecturer at University College London, the institution where he got his Ph.D. - in planning - before moving to the GLC, working his way up to "deputy head of recreation research". It is perhaps no surprise to learn that Perry does indeed have a solid 15 years in the civil service under his belt - mainly, but not entirely under the Conservative government. He joined the Department of the Environment in 1975 as part of its urban affairs division at the start of an eleven year stint. He joined the central policy planning unit, where his work involved briefing Michael Heseltine (the then environment secretary) on all non-DoE related Cabinet papers. For four months he was head of a housing division dealing with right to buy and shared ownership. From 1986-88 he was head of the Department of Trade and Industry's inner city unit, where working for Kenneth Clarke and Lord Young he set up and co--ordinated 16 inner city task forces. From 1988-1990 was the DTI's regional director for the West Midlands, a role which included heading the government's city action team for Birmingham.

Some have whispered that a career civil servant - although often the preferred option to head a quango - cannot have the intimate knowledge that working within a sector brings, and that this is a disadvantage. But Perry also has ten years experience at the helm of two local authorities. His move from the DTI to Wolverhampton was "a very steep learning curve" Perry recalls. When he joined in 1990, he says he found an organisation with "low civic and staff morale and weaknesses in management". Proving he was not one to shirk making unpopular decisions, he cut 2,000 staff from the payroll after identifying "a need to make £13m budget cuts". Amongst his other achievements, his CV notes, was success in securing the first round of City Challenge funding for the area.

Solihull, where he has been chief executive for the last four years, is well known as an efficient authority that is overseeing a booming economy. The whole council has been re-recognised for Investors in People status three times, currently levies the lowest council tax of any metropolitan authority, and is in the somewhat painful throes of moving towards single status - a process which involves restructuring the entire pay and grading structure.

So why should Perry leave the local authority arena? "There's never a right time to leave," Perry admits. But the potentially key role for the Housing Corporation in the context of the National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal attracted him, he says, and "the very knotty issue of the sector's regulatory structure."

This he says will be a new challenge for him, and one he intends to expend intellectual energy on.

Perry says he knows "quite a lot" about housing management on the ground through his work at Solihull. But it is obvious he has been appointed for his strategic abilities.

He has a "huge network of contacts within local government" - including many at chief executive level. Friends and colleagues describe him as committed and thorough.

He is well regarded in the West Midlands, according to Richard Clark, chief executive of Birmingham-based Focus HA, who describes Perry as very hardworking and intellectually sharp. Clark highlights his strong commitment to regeneration and social exclusion issues.

"His interest has been in regeneration and community governance in terms of health, housing and social services, so his vision of housing is a holistic one, trying to make it work in context of wider local government," adds Mike Sanders, interim director of Solace.

From the corporation's point of view, having a chief executive with both regeneration and local authority experience is a coup - and sends out strong signals about its future direction.

Dean confirms: "With the government's new agenda we wanted someone who could take an overview. We have all been talking about partnership. Here we have got someone who has worked outside the direct registered social landlord sector."

While the quango itself is safe for the next five years after its regulatory review, Perry will have his work cut out if he is to succeed in convincing the sector and the government that it should have a longer term future.

The challenge starts for Norman Perry on October 2, and by then the housing world will certainly be lining up to get to know him better. He adds: "I hope my honeymoon period lasts longer than October 4."