Will political turmoil derail housing reform?
The Conservative Government had set-out its agenda on housing reform, but that’s now under threat or delay because of a political vacuum in Westminster.
The housing minister Stuart Andrew MP, a landlord himself, was only appointed in February this year after Chris Pincher’s departure after just two years in the job. Now Andrew has left having resigned alongside 60 MPs, all members of Boris Johnson’s government – the housing minister’s exit went past most of us almost unnoticed.
A sign of the disarray that threatens housing and planning policy in England & Wales, two other housing department ministers have also left, followed closely by the sacking by Boris Johnson of their overall boss, and architect of a possible solution to the cladding scandal – Michael Gove.
Greg Clark was quickly appointment as Gove’s successor, making him the fifth housing secretary in 5 years, and the latest housing minister, Marcus Jones, represents housing minister number 12 in thirteen years.
What does all this say about the priority being given to housing?
A housing sector in crisis according to many, and indeed with that falls the Government’s flagship levelling up initiative? How can we expect any sort of continuity for the myriad of policy changes, many crucial ongoing issues facing housing, landlords and tenants, leaseholders and builders, when so many have such short tenures or jump ship?
There’s much legislation under preparation including the Building Safety Act, the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill, the Renters Reform Bill, a Social Housing Regulation Bill and promised leasehold reforms, all of which are likely to receive scant attention while the Government navigates the summer without a fill-time leader.
It’s unlikely any important decisions will be made until a new leader in the Conservative party, a new PM, gets his or her feet under the Downing Street table. It’s even more likely that last minute changes of emphasis will come about as the government deals with more pressing short-term affordability issues.
A matter of priorities
With a Government now faced with post Brexit economic challenges, a wall of debt following Covid borrowing, NHS, illegal immigration, education and defence issues, how far down the list of priorities will some of the thorny problems affecting housing come?
How much does the Government really care about housing policy: landlords, tenants, first-time buyers, and those long suffering tower block leaseholders with massive service charge debts round their neck as a result of faulty cladding and building defects?
Under its new labyrinthine title, “The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities,” designed to covey and bolster the Government’s flagship election policy, of which housing must be a key element, the many years of short staff tenures in the department does not bode well, the pattern appears to be embedded.
Apparently, there’s only one junior minister remained in DLUHC following the spate of resignations, resulting in the Government recently having to postpone a key debate in the Common on the levelling-up bill.
Until the department is re-staffed and back up to full speed, and that looks like being well after the new Prime Minister is in post after September, further delays to these planned and important legislative changes are inevitable.
Bills could be lost
The result could even be that some of the bills will be lost altogether, though it’s unlikely the Government under a new leader would want too many U-turns. More likely that there could be changes, or aspects of the legislation that are quietly dropped, something that no doubt many landlords would be happy to see. But it brings painful uncertainty for many leaseholders.
It is thought that the Renters Reform Bill, currently just a white paper, is unlikely to get knocked back given the political high profile it engenders, particularly the proposed abolition of the section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions process, though without more determined direction in the department, bringing it to fruition could be a torturous path.
Once the party leadership is decided, there will likely be a major reshuffle, which could set things in motion again pretty quickly, but reform of the private rented sector (PRS) is not something the private landlord is looking forward to with relish.
View Full Article: Will political turmoil derail housing reform?
Post comment
Categories
- Landlords (19)
- Real Estate (9)
- Renewables & Green Issues (1)
- Rental Property Investment (1)
- Tenants (21)
- Uncategorized (11,916)
Archives
- December 2024 (43)
- November 2024 (64)
- October 2024 (82)
- September 2024 (69)
- August 2024 (55)
- July 2024 (64)
- June 2024 (54)
- May 2024 (73)
- April 2024 (59)
- March 2024 (49)
- February 2024 (57)
- January 2024 (58)
- December 2023 (56)
- November 2023 (59)
- October 2023 (67)
- September 2023 (136)
- August 2023 (131)
- July 2023 (129)
- June 2023 (128)
- May 2023 (140)
- April 2023 (121)
- March 2023 (168)
- February 2023 (155)
- January 2023 (152)
- December 2022 (136)
- November 2022 (158)
- October 2022 (146)
- September 2022 (148)
- August 2022 (169)
- July 2022 (124)
- June 2022 (124)
- May 2022 (130)
- April 2022 (116)
- March 2022 (155)
- February 2022 (124)
- January 2022 (120)
- December 2021 (117)
- November 2021 (139)
- October 2021 (130)
- September 2021 (138)
- August 2021 (110)
- July 2021 (110)
- June 2021 (60)
- May 2021 (127)
- April 2021 (122)
- March 2021 (156)
- February 2021 (154)
- January 2021 (133)
- December 2020 (126)
- November 2020 (159)
- October 2020 (169)
- September 2020 (181)
- August 2020 (147)
- July 2020 (172)
- June 2020 (158)
- May 2020 (177)
- April 2020 (188)
- March 2020 (234)
- February 2020 (212)
- January 2020 (164)
- December 2019 (107)
- November 2019 (131)
- October 2019 (145)
- September 2019 (123)
- August 2019 (112)
- July 2019 (93)
- June 2019 (82)
- May 2019 (94)
- April 2019 (88)
- March 2019 (78)
- February 2019 (77)
- January 2019 (71)
- December 2018 (37)
- November 2018 (85)
- October 2018 (108)
- September 2018 (110)
- August 2018 (135)
- July 2018 (140)
- June 2018 (118)
- May 2018 (113)
- April 2018 (64)
- March 2018 (96)
- February 2018 (82)
- January 2018 (92)
- December 2017 (62)
- November 2017 (100)
- October 2017 (105)
- September 2017 (97)
- August 2017 (101)
- July 2017 (104)
- June 2017 (155)
- May 2017 (135)
- April 2017 (113)
- March 2017 (138)
- February 2017 (150)
- January 2017 (127)
- December 2016 (90)
- November 2016 (135)
- October 2016 (149)
- September 2016 (135)
- August 2016 (48)
- July 2016 (52)
- June 2016 (54)
- May 2016 (52)
- April 2016 (24)
- October 2014 (8)
- April 2012 (2)
- December 2011 (2)
- November 2011 (10)
- October 2011 (9)
- September 2011 (9)
- August 2011 (3)
Calendar
Recent Posts
- Landlords’ Rights Bill: Let’s tell the government what we want
- 2025 will be crucial for leasehold reform as secondary legislation takes shape
- Reeves inflationary budget puts mockers on Bank Base Rate reduction
- How to Avoid SDLT Hikes In 2025
- Shelter Scotland slams council for stripping homeless households of ‘human rights’