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Rayner out, Reed in: who is the new housing secretary?
After an emergency cabinet reshuffle sparked by Angela Rayner’s resignation, environment secretary Steve Reed has taken on the housing brief. Ella Jessel looks at what he might bring to the role
Steve Reed has been appointed housing secretary after Angela Rayner’s dramatic fall from power. But who is he? #UKhousingMs Rayner’s dramatic fall from power last week following her stamp duty blunder left a gaping hole at the top of government.
In a hasty reshuffle caused by Ms Rayner’s double resignation as deputy prime minister and housing secretary, Mr Reed was parachuted into the housing brief.
A key ally of prime minister Sir Keir Starmer, the MP for Streatham and Croydon North will go from clashing with farmers over inheritance tax at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to driving the government’s housing agenda.
The former London council leader reportedly already told civil servants his mantra was “build, baby, build” and he would “pull every lever” to reach the government’s 1.5 million-homes target.
But what do we know about his experience, and will he continue Ms Rayner’s focus on building more social housing?
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Background
Born in St Albans on the outskirts of London in 1963, Mr Reed grew up in a working-class family. His father worked in a print factory and his mother was a cleaner.
The first member of his family to go to university, he studied English at the University of Sheffield before starting his career in education and business publishing.
His political career started in 1998 at Lambeth Council in south London, where he was elected as a ward councillor before becoming leader in 2006 when Labour won back control of the town hall.
His six-year stint as leader started at a difficult time for the council’s housing services, with Mr Reed inheriting a backlog of repairs and controversies.
He was behind the establishment of Lambeth Living, an ALMO set up to manage and improve over 33,000 council homes. The initiative was designed to access additional government funding for the Decent Homes Programme, but the ALMO failed to get off the ground and was eventually disbanded in 2014.
Under his watch, Lambeth initiated its 2012 regeneration programme to redevelop estates such as the low-rise Cressingham Gardens near Brockwell Park, to provide more homes and modernise the borough’s housing stock.
Mr Reed left the council shortly after the decision was taken to launch the programme, but it went on to prove controversial, with many projects never going ahead. The vehicle set up to deliver it, Homes for Lambeth, was also eventually wound down.
During his time at Lambeth, Mr Reed co-chaired the Vauxhall Nine Elms Battersea board, which oversaw one of Europe’s largest regeneration projects, delivering over 18,000 new homes.
Speaking in the House of Commons during a debate on planning, Mr Reed said Nine Elms had taught him that regeneration worked best when it was a “strong partnership” between councils, communities and developers. “That is how we get new homes built where people need them,” he said.
He also started Lambeth’s bid to become the UK’s first co-operative council, writing in The Guardian about the benefits of handing more control over services to residents, and his support of tenant-managed estates.
Parliamentary work
Elected to parliament for Croydon North in 2012, before representing Streatham and Croydon North from 2024, Mr Reed has held a number of shadow cabinet roles.
As a backbench MP, he successfully introduced Seni’s Law, legislation designed to limit restraint in mental health units.
Mr Reed has mainly voted in line with Labour Party policy since it came to power last year, supporting raising the additional rates of stamp duty and backing the Renters’ Rights Bill.
In 2021, he was vocal in opposition to then housing secretary Robert Jenrick’s planning reforms, which he described as a “developers’ charter”, and raised concern about the “deregulation” of housing development through permitted development rights.
His Hansard record shows he has also spoken out against the issue of ‘land banking’, where planning permission is given for sites, but they are not built out, with the developer instead waiting for values to rise.
“It is a lucrative way to make money without the cost of actually building the homes,” he told the Commons.
Mr Reed’s register of interests doesn’t show any investment property ownership.
On his appointment, Mr Reed said on X: “It’s a huge honour to be appointed Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government by [Sir] Keir Starmer.
“Together, we will get Britain building and create a future where everyone has access to affordable, safe homes and thriving communities.”
Many senior sector leaders welcomed the new housing secretary yesterday.
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