Housing figures have responded to what has been a couple of days of unprecedented chaos in Downing Street, which saw a flurry of government resignations, the sacking of housing and levelling up secretary Michael Gove, and the eventual resignation of the prime minister Boris Johnson.
Johnson, who finally agreed to resign yesterday, in the face of mutiny from his own cabinet and over 50 resignations, has now picked Greg Clark to replace Gove to lead the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).
Gove’s departure followed the resignation of housing minister Stuart Andrew, who had only been in the role since February.
Andrew’s departure means the department has lost its 11th housing minister in 12 years.
Gove’s sacking was met with frustration in some corners of the housing industry, while others saw it as an opportunity for a fresh start.
A spokesperson for the Home Builders Federation said Gove’s departure will allow a “resetting” of the relationship between the development industry and the government.
“Greg Clark needs to refocus on policies to facilitate housing supply and avoid any delay in key policy decisions,” the spokesperson added.
Adam Male, chief revenue officer at online lettings agent Mashroom, reflected on the fact that Gove led the recent Rental Reform White Paper that outlined a raft of new plans to give tenants more security, protection and power when renting a property.
He said: “Whilst this [rental reform] has been something of a controversial move that has angered many landlords and has led to warnings of a mass exodus in the private rental market, Gove listened to the issues that tenants have experienced, particularly with rogue landlords, and made promises to tackle them which were outlined in the white paper reforms.”
Male believes that Gove’s dismissal and Johnson’s resignation will “lead to a delay to any rental reforms or laws being put in place”.
He continued: “The newly instated housing secretary Greg Clark may also have different views on rental reforms, which could halt the progress made by Gove and his team even further, which will naturally cause a lot of uncertainty for both landlords and tenants.
“We need to see the Conservatives acting as quickly as possible to instate a permanent leader and leadership team in order for these delays in the rental reforms to be kept to a minimum.”
Nick Leeming, chairman of Jackson-Stops, has welcomed the appointment of a new housing secretary.
He said: “What is good about Greg Clark is that his previous stint on the front line as business secretary as well having previously served as secretary of state for communities and local government should put him in good standing when examining the deadlock between housebuilders and government, to encourage rather than impede the swift delivery of new homes to meet rising demand.
“The Levelling Up agenda under Gove was a clear Borism that he has since urged his successors to continue to pursue. But whether the Conservatives can retain power in the longer term is something that remains to be seen, with political posturing the course of the day.
“I hope minsters put the nation first at this critical time for the economy and for the housing market.”
Nathan Emerson, Propertymark CEO, added: “We have previously met Greg Clark when he held the equivalent position in what was DCLG.
“The hope from having someone with this experience is that he will be able to maintain momentum on important issues such as renters reform, leasehold, building and fire safety requirements and regulation standards amongst property professionals.”
Comments (4)
My notes on these ever changing Housing Minsiters & Renters Reform bill.We’ve had about 19 Housing Ministers in 21 years AAAhhh.So we have the renters reform bill, we all now know Michael Gove has gone, Housing Minister gone, all Leveling up department has gone. No stability. And they’ll get in some new Muppet’s with zero experience or qualifications to tell us how to house people. I’ve got a Master’s in housing compared to these Bafoon’s.I’m not allowed to leave, the same tenant of 25 years is not allowed to leave, & the same house is not allowed to leave. Yet the people who tell us how to rent houses out come & go.it amazes me how thick these short in term Housing Ministers are. I used to think I was just normal Mick from Bulwell. But these Housing Ministers make me look like the Housing Supremo who if they listened to the likes of me and u Kate, we could cut the Homeless down by 80% and save the country £ billions in the process.I remember when Alok Sharma was DWP minister. He said on the News I know UC is working cause I’ve asked the staff in the Job Centre. What a dimwit.2 things.1 they gonna tell u it’s working cause they want to be safe in their job.2 How do they know if it’s working as they’re not the ones NOT receiving the money and they’re not the ones being kicked out their homes cause no rent being paid. Ask the ruddy tenant and common sense Landlord. I was down job centre reluctantly on Thursday with a tenant. We’ve gone back 25 year’s to when HB fought the Landlord and we wun’t take HB tenants. Back then I had a monopoly niche. Now No landlord wants this niche.There is a caveat to that some of us have. Us that’s charging cheap rents to long term tenants who’s been there 25 years and we can’t put the rent up to cover Letting Agents costs. I wish I could straight from £500pm to £800 like all surrounding rents, but the tenants would have heart attack and it’s not fair on them.. That’s what Govt and Councils ain’t getting, the more renters reform they bring in, the more they hurting these tenants who aren’t paying these top rents the Govt would have u believe Greedy rich landlords are charging.
Shall we take sweepstakes on how long this latest housing minister lasts?
My bet is September
End of August.
The department of housing ought to have its own permanent and professional minister that sits in cabinet. Someone who’s exempt from the ebbs, flows politics and shenanigans of tribal point scoring policies.
I cannot recall how many people have had a go at housing in the past 25 years but to my mind it ought to be a more monogamous role than it is now.
Just getting the numbers together takes more time than most of housing have a go ministers have been in position. Just as they get to grips with what needs to be done, they’re off. The successful firms in our industry have been working towards their success for generations with proper and planned succession.
When you’re dealing with something like homes the policies and policy making have to fit with what you’re attempting to do.