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The Week in Housing: DLUHC’s ministerial revolving door
A weekly round-up of the most important headlines for housing professionals
Good afternoon.
2022 has been a year of firsts.
The first ever World Cup held in winter.
The first time temperatures in the UK breached 40°C.
It is also the first time we have had three housing ministers in a 12 month-period.
This week saw the confirmation of Lee Rowley as the latest politician to take on the role. The North Derbyshire MP replaced Marcus Jones, who was in the role for 62 days, who replaced Stuart Andrew, who was in the role for 148 days. You keeping up?
The 42-year-old former banker has previous experience in the built environment sector, having held the role of construction minister for nine months in 2021-22.
For a full profile, you can read our analysis answering ‘who is Lee Rowley?’ by James Wilmore.
And it is clear that Mr Rowley has particular aims for his time in the hot seat.
In a tweet following his appointment, he said he wanted to “raise standards and service across the sector, to improve how planning works for local communities and, vitally, to empower more people achieve their dream of homeownership”.
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Some in the social housing sector might groan at this last point, having seen similar aims from ministers before. But will he have enough time to do any of these things?
We are currently averaging a different housing minister every 348 days across the past 12 years (check out our updated timeline of ministers). Let’s be honest: some house sales have taken longer.
Elsewhere, Mr Rowley’s new boss Simon Clarke, the new housing secretary, was not pulling any punches yesterday following the publication of the Financial Conduct Authority’s report into the issue of buildings insurance for leaseholders in cladding-affected blocks.
Responding to details in the report of the huge commissions that brokers are paying managing agents for picking them as the company to find cover, Mr Clarke was irate.
He branded these payments kickbacks and industry abuses, while lambasting the British Insurance Brokers’ Association for failing to take the issue seriously.
This wasn’t the only interesting bit within the report. There were also calls for a new riskpooling scheme to be set up to try to reduce the costsof insurance, which has in some cases risen by more than 1,000% on some buildings. All the details can be found here.
Is shared ownership actually full ownership? Or at least, should it be advertised as such?
That is a question the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has been toying with over the past year, following a complaint by campaign group Shared Ownership Resources against an advertising campaign by the National Housing Federation two years ago.
After an investigation, the ASA came back upholding two of Shared Ownership Resources’ complaints. The watchdog upheld the complaint about the advert’s claims to do with shared ownership being “part rent, part buy” and “it’s yours”, saying they were misleading because they exaggerated the level of ownership allowed by the product.
The second complaint focused on the advert’s lack of information on lease extensions provided to consumers. The full details of the case can be found here.
Elsewhere, the Regulator of Social Housing has landed on its final tenant satisfaction measures for new consumer standards. The full list of measures can be found here.
Stat of the week
130 housing developments have been affected by the presence of great crested newts through the planning process in the past five years. A Freedom of Information request from Stephen Delahunty found that 77 minor schemes and 52 major schemes had made a request for a district-level licence for the amphibians.
Quote of the week
“The cost of living crisis, soaring rents and inflation are pushing people’s budgets to breaking point and leaving homelessness services themselves struggling to deliver vital support.
“While action on energy bills is welcome, this is not the only pressure, and without further government action, we are headed for a fresh homelessness emergency.”
Rick Henderson, chief executive of Homeless Link, backs the Kerslake Commission’s call for additional protections for renters during the cost of living crisis.
Jack Simpson, assistant editor (news and investigations)
Editor’s picks: five-must read stories
Who is the new housing minister Lee Rowley?
G15 landlord hit with two severe maladministration judgements for damp and mould
Nearly 130 housing developments affected by great crested newts in the past five years
Advertising watchdog labels NHF shared ownership advert ‘misleading’ after investigation
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