Kit Malthouse is the eighth housing minister in just over eight years, and the 17th since 2000. No housing minister has enjoyed the security of tenure necessary to deliver a consistent policy that truly addresses the housing shortage and the systemic symptoms that have led to it. And this incessant ministerial churn means that each minister has failed to truly grasp the scale and depth of the housing crisis, with very little time to get on top of their brief, which isn’t an easy one.

But, beyond Westminster, the fact remains that we still need to deliver an extra 200,000 homes a year on top of existing stock to balance the books and tackle issues of affordability and quality.

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