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Sector expresses disappointment at revolving door of housing ministers
The decision to replace Alok Sharma as housing minister midway through his research for the Social Housing Green Paper has sparked disappointment in the housing sector.
As part of a cabinet reshuffle yesterday, Mr Sharma was moved to become employment minister after less than seven months in the job.
He has been replaced by Dominic Raab, MP for Esher and Walton, who leaves a junior minister role in the Ministry of Justice held since 2015.
It means the housing sector has now had four ministers in three years and 16 since 1997.
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Mr Sharma had been meeting with social housing tenants across the country for work on a Social Housing Green Paper, announced in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy in June 2017.
He has further meetings to meet tenants in the diary, and it is not yet clear whether these will go ahead and what will become of the work he has done so far.
It came as cabinet secretary Sajid Javid was renamed secretary of state for housing, communities and local government and the department was rebranded as the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).
Geeta Nanda, chief executive of 37,000-home housing association Metropolitan, said: “Housing is now supposed to be a priority for government but you don’t see these kinds of changes in other really important areas like health.
“It just feels like housing is always the one that gets hit. Alok Sharma spent all that time post-Grenfell talking to residents and trying to boost his profile and what message does it give that he’s now been moved?
“It’s good news that we have got housing in Sajid’s title but it would be great if we could have some more stability, particularly at this time when housing is such an important issue. We need someone who can work with us and get to know us properly.”
Lisa Pickard, chief executive of Leeds and Yorkshire Housing Association and a director at Tpas, which had been helping to run the roadshows, said: “The amount of time and effort you put into establishing these relationships makes it frustrating when they move on so fast.
“[Mr Sharma] went out of his way to listen to tenants and the question is, where does that work go now? I spoke to the tenants who did the roadshows and they were really positive about Alok – they felt he was listening to them. The worry now is that they will feel like they’re not being listened to again.”
John Bibby, chief executive of the Association of Retained Council Housing, added: “In a way it’s disappointing that we’ve had so huge a turnover. I don’t think they get to settle down and get to grips with it.
“The only slight concern is what does it say if he has been involved in all those resident meetings following Grenfell? I’m not sure moving him is sending the right message to people who he’s been talking to.”
Paul Hackett, chief executive of Optivo and chair of the G15 group of large London landlords, said: “Alok Sharma made a big impact on our residents through his willingness to listen. I think expectations have been raised quite considerably and the incoming minister has got quite a challenge to follow on from that work. Alok Sharma has done the listening and now Dominic Raab needs to put that into practice.
“I was disappointed to see Alok moving on so quickly, to be honest with you. We are all used to housing ministers having a short tenure but I thought it was still surprising to see him moved on so soon. Housing is such a long-term issue and so I’d really hope that the new housing minister lasts longer than his predecessors.”
He also said it was “incredibly welcome” that Mr Javid had been made first secretary of state for housing.
Tony Stacey, chief executive of South Yorkshire Housing Association, said: “You spend hours trying to bring these people up to speed, seeing whether you can do anything useful for them, and then you’re told that the next person is in the frame. All that, I think, is very disappointing.”
However, he said making housing a cabinet role was “really positive” and “can certainly make a difference”.
Richard Beresford, chief executive of the National Federation of Builders, said: “Having four housing ministers in three years makes it increasingly difficult for the industry to establish an effective working relationship with the government.
“Addressing the housing crisis doesn’t just require resolve, but also consistency of approach.”
David Orr, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, said via Twitter yesterday that he was “disappointed” Mr Sharma was being moved on so soon.
