Kit Malthouse MP has been appointed Housing and Planning Minister, the eighth incumbent in eight years of the Conservatives in Number 10. The announcement follows the promotion of Dominic Raab to the post of Secretary of State for Brexit, following the resignation of David Davis.
The 17th planning minister in 20 years, Malthouse is the latest in the so called-revolving door post, and comes to the job with just seven months in Government. His role in local Government at Westminster Council and City Hall means he’s had considerable exposure to planning.
He’s an advocate of increased local input in planning, and successfully campaigned for the strengthening of Neighbourhood plans. During his campaign for the 2017 election local control over planning was one of his three mission statements for campaigning in the June 2017 elections, alongside education and support for small businesses.
Commenting on his appointment, Malthouse said: “I am delighted to be appointed as Minister of State for Housing.
“Building the homes this country needs is a top priority for this government. I am keen to build on the real progress that has been made and start working with the sector so we can deliver more homes, restore the dream of home ownership and build a housing market fit for the future.”
While in his Facebook page video, he commented: “It’s a massive job, and one which I’m relishing getting my teeth into. Driving house building: more, better, faster and cleverer across the country, driving home ownership and occupation so that your kids and mine have the chance to have the home that they want or dream of.”
Michael Holmes, NaCSBA Chair said, “We welcome Kit Malthouse to the post and look forward to building on the work we’ve done with successive ministers and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to help grow the volume and diversity of new housing to deliver the sort of new homes people want to see in their area.
“Custom and Self Build, together with the growing community-led housing sector, offer great potential for engaging with people locally, as we know it’s far more appealing than a lot of the mass market developments on offer. We hope Malthouse stays in post longer than his predecessors, so that we can building lasting relationships and really diversify our housing supply market.”
“Custom and Self Build, together with the growing community-led housing sector, offer great potential for engaging with people locally, as our research shows, custom and self build homes appeal to a different market to those buying speculatively built developer homes.
“NaCSBA’s 2016 survey indicated that 19% of the public say they would be more likely to support development that includes custom and self build homes. We hope Malthouse stays in post longer than his predecessors, so that we can building lasting relationships and really diversify our housing supply market.”
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