Member Article

Concerns as Housing Minister “changes more often than Sunderland Manager”

A North East property expert has voiced concerns about the apparent relegation of the position of Housing Minister in this week’s cabinet reshuffle – warning the government “there is more to housing than Help to Buy”.

Ajay Jagota of lettings business KIS Lettings also voiced disappointment that the position has changed hands once again, noting that “the Housing Minister seems to change more often than the Sunderland Manager”.

Monday’s Cabinet reshuffle saw Kris Hopkins appointed Housing Minister, with previous minister Mark Prisk axed after just 398 days in the job.

Hopkins will also just be an Undersecretary of State at the Department of Communities and Local Government, rather than a Minister of State like his predecessor – a less senior position.

The week also saw Emma Reynolds replace Jack Dromey as Shadow Housing Minister, as Ed Milliband also changed Labour’s frontbench team.

Ajay, who manages properties for over 700 landlords from branches in Sunderland, South Shields, North Shields and Welwyn Garden City, said:

“Housing is one of the most fundamental things in our lives - each and every one of use needs a roof over our heads. But successive governments are undervaluing and undermining the position of housing minister by changing minister with alarming and unhelpful regularity.

“The downgrading of the position in the ministerial pecking order suggests to me that George Osborne is now running housing policy from within the treasury through the Help to Buy scheme. I am one of Help to Buy’s biggest supporters, there is more to housing then Help to Buy.

“I’m not one of those people who think that housing policy is in disarray, and there’s an argument that if Help to Buy is the government’s only housing strategy then having a housing minister with nothing much more would be pointless. I believe Help to Buy will work, but there’s certainly a lot of eggs going in the same basket.

“The real problem is the fact that we’re still getting through ministers at a rate of about one a year – the Housing Minister seems to change more often than the Sunderland Manager!

“We now have a different Sunderland Manager, Housing Minister and Shadow Minister to the ones we started the week with and that amount of chopping and changing cannot ever be good for housing, contributing to the uncertainty and dysfunction in housing each new minister promises to end.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ajay Jagota .