The housing system in Britain is broken, Michael Gove has said as he admitted that the government’s attempts to solve the crisis had so far been piecemeal.
The levelling up secretary has written the foreword to a collection of essays on housing released by the think tank Bright Blue. While he said he did not agree with all of the views expressed in the essays, which were written by seven Tory MPs and eight commentators and experts. he wrote that they were an “extremely valuable and timely contribution”.
Selaine Saxby, MP for Devon North, suggested banning owners of holiday lets from being able to claim mortgage interest tax relief, as well as forcing those lets to be registered with councils and requiring a change of use to a holiday let.
Other suggestions included allowing local authorities to act as developers in their own right, providing more social housing and creating more homes for older people to allow them to make way for younger buyers.
Gove said: “That the current housing model — from supply to standards and the mortgage market — is broken, we can all agree. That change is necessary is undeniable.” He said that he was “determined to see it through”.
