Lee Rowley becomes the 16th new housing minister since 2010, having held the role for two months under Liz Truss.
Campaign groups have slammed the government as “shambolic” after the housing minister was sacked the day before the Renters Reform Bill reached committee stage. Lee Rowley was reappointed housing minister, after serving for less than two months under Liz Truss, after he replaced Rachel Maclean in Rishi Sunak’s bombshell reshuffle (13 November). That means there have been 15 different housing ministers since 2010, under 16 tenures, and seven in the last two years.
Maclean said on X (Twitter) that she was “disappointed and was looking forward to introducing the Renters Reform Bill to committee tomorrow and later the Leasehold and Freehold Bill”.
Senior government ministers praised Maclean, with Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch describing her as an “excellent minister” who had been “always attentive to MPs and their constituents and got some very tricky legislation over the line”. Housing Secretary Michael Gove retweeted this post.
The Renters Reform Bill - which strengthens tenants’ rights - will start the committee stage process of it becoming law today, when it will undergo line-by-line scrutiny of its contents, in Rowley’s first full day on the job since his reappointment.
Campaign groups have described this as “shambolic”, with Tom Darling, campaign manager of the Renters’ Reform Coalition, saying “Rachel Maclean attended our events and, though we don't believe the Government are going far enough on rental reform, she was always willing to engage with us – we wish her well for the future. It is frankly shambolic that we will now be on to our 16th housing minister since 2010, and incredibly nine just since the Government promised to end no-fault evictions. Now, just before the first day of the important committee stage, which involves poring over the detail of the Bill, she is sacked – it makes a mockery of government and shows a shocking lack of respect for England’s 11 million private renters.”
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s cabinet reshuffle has seen Rachel Maclean sacked after just nine months in the job and replaced with Lee Rowley.
Mr Rowley has become the 7th housing minister since 2020 and the 16th over the last 13 years. Mr Rowley has been an MP for North East Derbyshire since 2017 and previously served as housing minister for around seven weeks in 2022 under former prime minister Liz Truss. His first job after leaving University was as an estate agent and prior to entering Parliament, he worked in a number of finance and consultancy roles at Barclays, Santander and Co-op Insurance.
Mr Rowley said on X, formerly Twitter he’s delighted to be appointed. He said “home ownership is the cornerstone of Conservatism – and for building the property-owning democracy that we all want to see. Delighted to be supporting Michael Gove on our ambitious long-term plan for housing – and to build more homes in the right places for everyone.”
Industry reaction
Housing charity Shelter has urged the new housing minister to “hit the ground running”.
Polly Neate, chief executive officer at Shelter, said “the revolving door of housing ministers proves the government’s failure to grasp the scale and urgency of the housing emergency. Rents are rocketing, evictions are soaring, and homelessness is at a record high. The 16th housing minister since 2010 must hit the ground running.”
The Renters Reform Coalition, campaign manager Tom Darling, said “It is frankly shambolic that we will now be on to our 16th housing minister since 2010, and incredibly nine just since the government promised to end no-fault evictions. Now, just before the important committee stage [of the Renters Reform Bill] which involves poring over the detail of the Bill, she is sacked – it makes a mockery of government and shows a shocking lack of respect for England’s 11m private renters.”
Sadiq Khan criticises government over housing shortage
Sadiq Khan has slammed the government for its “poor housing delivery” as new figures reveal the capital is outbuilding the rest of the country.
According to new data released by the Department of Levelling Up, up to March 2022, London has increased its housing stock by eight per cent during the years in which Sadiq has been Mayor, compared to just 6% for the rest of England. Housing completions in London in recent years have been at the highest level since the 1930s, with the highest council homebuilding since the 1970s.
Tackling London’s housing crisis a priority
Analysis reveals that if the rest of England had been building new homes at the same rate as London since 2016, there would be 300,000 more homes across the country today.
However, the London Mayor does acknowledge London faces a significant shortage of housing.
Mr Khan said “I’ve made tackling London’s housing crisis a priority since the day I took office. We have got London building again, with this analysis showing that our hard work has sent home building in the capital charging ahead of the rest of the country – and were it not for the inaction of Ministers, there would be an extra 300,000 much-needed homes across the rest of England today. There is still a long way to go to fix the housing crisis in London and the government is putting our progress at risk by rowing back on targets. Experts are warning that country-wide housebuilding has fallen to the lowest level since World War II. I’m using every power at my disposal to build a better, fairer and more prosperous city for all Londoners, but if Ministers don’t invest the funding required into London and beyond, progress across the whole country could grind to a halt.”
Unprecedented housing crisis
Housing experts have warned that high-interest rates and supply issues will make London’s housing crisis worse.
Fiona Fletcher-Smith, chair of G15, a group of affordable housing providers said “housing associations are facing very tough decisions in the face of high interest rates, cost inflation, supply chain issues and labour shortages. London and the rest of the country is facing an unprecedented housing crisis, and we will only solve it by getting the sector building again. We need long-term thinking, certainty and political commitment, and strongly urge government to consider and implement the recommendations set out by the London Housing Delivery Taskforce.”