Gove returns as housing secretary and fiscal statement delayed

In his previous tenure as housing secretary, Mr Gove was praised for making progress on issues such as building safety.

He brought in amendments to the post-Grenfell Building Safety Bill, to protect leaseholders from paying for expensive cladding remediation. And in January he made a deal with developers to force them to pay their share of these costs to the tune of £4bn.

Mr Gove was in charge when the Social Housing White Paper was published in November 2020, paving the way for the Social Housing Regulation Bill, which aims to grant the Regulator of Social Housing greater powers to protect residents.

These include plans for Ofsted-style inspections of housing associations’ stock and unlimited fines for poorly performing social landlords. This month, new amendments were brought into the bill in the House of Lords to make social housing providers ensure their staff meet new competency standards.

Mr Gove also introduced the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill to parliament in June. The bill includes plans to introduce an infrastructure levy to replace Section 106 agreements for developments.

Mr Gove has plenty on his plate upon his return to DLUHC. Near the top of the agenda must be making a decision on rent-setting for social housing providers next year.

The government has closed a six-week consultation on introducing a new temporary rent cap for social housing for the 2023-24 financial year, which includes options of a three, five and seven per cent cap.

Housing associations have already called on Mr Sunak for “quick clarity” on next year’s rent settlement.

Mr Gove will oversee the Social Housing Regulation Bill as it progresses through parliament and decide whether to go ahead with his previous administration’s Investment Zones.

These were introduced in the Mini Budget to accelerate construction projects by liberalising the planning system and streamlining consultation and approval requirements.

Mr Gove may look to tackle building safety issues that remain. For example, problems with access to the government’s Building Safety Fund have persisted.

Housing trade bodies have welcomed Mr Gove back into the sector.

Kate Henderson, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, said on Twitter: “Congratulations [Michael Gove] on your return to [DLUHC].

“I’m looking forward to meeting again soon and working with you on the key challenges and opportunities facing the social housing sector including tackling the cost of living crisis, levelling up, safety, quality, supply and more!”

Gavin Smart, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH), tweeted: “Welcome back to [DLUHC] [Michael Gove].

“My [CIH Housing] colleagues and I look forward to picking up our discussions with you about cost of living, affordability, professionalism, housing supply, safety and quality.”

According to DLUHC’s website, no ministerial changes in the department have yet been made. As it stands, Lee Rowley is still listed as housing minister and Andrew Stephenson as minister for housing and communities.