Matthew Pennycook, MP for Greenwich and Woolwich, has been appointed Housing Minister in the Labour Government elected on 4 July.  DLUHC will revert to its old name of Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.  It will be headed by Secretary of State Angela Rayner MP, who will also serve as Deputy Prime Minister. The other MHCLG Minister of State is Jim McMahon, MP for Oldham West, who will be responsible for local government. Rushanara Ali, MP for Bethnal Green and Stepney, and Alex Norris, MP for Nottingham North, have been appointed as junior Ministers, but it is not yet clear what their responsibilities will be. The Department will be represented in the House of Lords by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage, who many ARCH members know as Sharon Taylor, who was Leader of Stevenage Borough Council from 2006 to 2022, when she was awarded a life Peerage.

Speaking on election night, Angela Rayner emphasised Labour’s intention to build 1.5 million homes over the life of this Parliament.  Since then, the only major speech by a Government Minister touching on housing has come from Rachel Reeves, the new Chancellor.  She said that a consultation paper would be published this month on reform of the planning system to introduce a new ‘growth-focused approach’, including restoring mandatory housing targets. A Task Force will be established to accelerate stalled housing sites, beginning with four sites totalling 14,000 homes. She also promised the appointment of 300 additional planning officers.