Man of substance

Lemos has a reputation as something of a rabble-rouser; he's known for his sharp suits and equally sharp opinions – delivered in an accent not so much cut-glass as Waterford crystal – and when he's expected at a meeting, colleagues brace themselves for fireworks. But he is more than a showman. His two decades in housing have seen him found the largest Asian social enterprise in England, set up a consultant and be chosen as the first head of the Audit Commission's housing advisory board, all while taking leading roles in a slew of other registered social landlords and organisations. "I don't think of myself as iconoclastic," he says. "I'm in a very privileged position because I run an independent organisation and that gives me the opportunity to say what I think without fear or favour."

He was only three years out of university when he set up Asra Housing Association from the back room of a church hall in south-west London. "It was an Asian housing association, which was an unusual thing at that time," says Lemos. "In 1981, 1982, the discussion about racial equality had a very specific focus: there had been riots, the Scarman Report [on policing and race riots] was still going through. It was in some ways a very depressing time, but in others it was a very exciting time to be working in housing."

He then spent five years as director of development for Circle 33 Housing Trust before setting up consultant Lemos & Crane in 1990. "Circle 33 gave me a taste of what you could achieve," he says. "Housing associations are very flexible tools. If I was to be impertinent, I would say that they didn't always maximise their potential." He has been a member of the Audit Commission since 2000 and two months ago was named head of its housing advisory board.

The board was formed after the commission took over responsibility for inspecting housing associations. "The commission had a bigger strategic role that gave us a real opportunity to take a holistic view of the sector and what its strengths and weaknesses are," Lemos says. "We found we needed to draw in more experience from across the sector and outside it."

To this end, the board's members include not only local authority and RSL bigwigs such as Joanne Roney, Sheffield council's executive director of housing, and Peabody chief executive Richard McCarthy but also people with a broader policy background, such as Jon Rouse, chief executive of the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, and English Partnerships chief executive David Higgins.

"It's pretty good, actually," Lemos says. "In fact, extremely good. We're not at the stage when I can tell you our top three priorities; we'll get to that stage in September. We feel that if the commission is to maximise the value of its inspection regime, it cannot operate in a vacuum, it has to look to the full spectrum of housing policy. It's not just about picking out the very poor performers and concentrating on them, it's about raising standards across the board. Regulation is not just about securing funding."

'Society has changed a hell of a lot'
Lemos cites modern methods of construction, such as modular housing, as an example of the type of innovation that will push better value. "We must learn that the Victorian street scene is not the be-all and end-all. I'm not suggesting we should innovate for the sake of it, but society has changed a hell of a lot since we invented social housing and I don't think the sector has changed at quite the same rate.

"My impression is that we've been too ideological on [the ownership of housing]. There's not a one-size-fits-all solution. There are pros and cons to all models, but I'm very pro that tenants should have a big say."

One of the fundamental elements of this social change, and a recurring theme in Lemos' career since the start, is the issue of race and integration. He has written a number of important papers on the subject and, on this issue, strikes an uncharacteristically gloomy note. "We used to compare ourselves to the USA and to parts of France and say that the UK has done rather well in integration. I don't think we realised the extent to which our communities had become segregated.

"It's not simply a matter of applying good practice; in some of these areas we're not even sure what good practice is. And we're not just talking about Burnley and Oldham, we're talking about Worthing and Torquay and lots of places."

At no time is Lemos more enthusiastic than when he is extolling the virtues of multiculturalism. This manifests itself in his 10-year tenure on the board of the London International Film Festival and his chairmanship of the Akram Khan Dance Company. "It's a comment on how far we've come that the best Indian dance in the world can now be found in Britain," he says, "although I daresay there are people in India who would disagree. There's been an explosion of creativity in the performing arts. That's the upside [of racial integration]."

Lemos is not daunted by the current social climate. He says: "My job is to find out what's going on in the sector and what needs to be done to make a difference. You can be dull and monotone if you think everything's all right in the sector, but clearly it's not.

"Housing is at the heart of the political debate in a way it hasn't been since the 1970s. For good and bad reasons, it's a very exciting time to be working in housing."