Kit Malthouse has been named as the new minister of state for housing at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), making him the fourth minister in the last four years
Previously Dominic Raab spent six months as housing minister before securing a promotion to the Cabinet in a restructuring provoked by Brexit-induced resignations. He now succeeds David Davis as secretary of state for the Department for Exiting the EU.
In a statement on Twitter, 10 Downing Street said: “The Queen has been pleased to approve the appointment of Kit Malthouse as minister of state for housing at MHCLG.”
Malthouse is the MP for North West Hampshire and since January had served as the parliamentary under-secretary at the Department for Work and Pensions.
He has also been a member of the Treasury committee and armed forces bill committee.
Commenting on the new appointment, David Orr, Chief Executive at the National Housing Federation, said:
“Congratulations to Kit Malthouse MP on his new position. We’ve had constructive dialogue with him in his role at the Department of Work and Pensions, and it is positive that someone with an understanding of the strong links between welfare and housing has been appointed as Housing Minister. We look forward to continuing our close work with Mr Malthouse to solve the country’s housing crisis. Housing must remain a priority for this Government and housing associations will continue to be constructive and vital partners.
“However, this is the eighth housing minister in eight years. Theresa May has made it her personal mission to fix the housing crisis and if the Prime Minister is serious about this, she now needs to make sure Mr Malthouse actually has enough time to get to grips with the real scale of the problem, and make meaningful change.”
Other industry experts were quick to voice their concerns about the sheer number of housing ministers.
“Another week, another housing minister,” said Brian Berry, chief executive of the Federation of Master Builders. “The industry has long bemoaned the turnstile approach to this crucial role but the pace of change is quickening,” he said. “We’re now going through two housing ministers a year. Dominic Raab, Kit Malthouse’s predecessor, was only in post for a mere six months and before that, Alok Sharma was in the position for just seven months. The government claims that housing is a priority yet this constant chopping and changing in terms of the person leading the charge would suggest otherwise.”
