Theresa May made solving Britain’s housing crisis a personal mission when she became prime minister in 2016. Sajid Javid, her former secretary of state for housing and now home secretary, promised the “most substantial report of its kind for a generation”, on initiating the government’s consultation paper on social housing.
His successor James Brokenshire said the consultations provided a “landmark opportunity for major reform”. Given the build-up and scale of the challenge, the proposals outlined on Wednesday amount to a damp squib.
Successive UK governments have tinkered with housing policy without effecting fundamental change.
