To a large extent, the few housing policy announcements made
at recent Labour and Tory conferences have been eclipsed by changes in the
housing brief announced by both main parties in Monday’s ministerial and shadow
ministerial reshuffles. All the same, Kris Hopkins, MP for Keighley, has been
appointed housing minister, taking over from Mark Prisk, who was axed after
just over a year in the role. Hopkins joins the CLG as an undersecretary of
state, suggesting the role of housing minister has been demoted in the
government’s ministerial hierarchy and reinforcing the impression that
chancellor George Osborne is running housing policy from the Treasury. Wolverhampton MP Emma Reynolds has replaced
Jack Dromey as Labour’s shadow housing minister. Worryingly for the housing and
construction sectors, these changes may signal downgrading of housing policy at
a time when housing is growing in importance in the public’s mind. Read more on
the Left Foot Forward blog.
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