Conservative MP for North West Hampshire Kit Malthouse has been made housing minister, following Dominic Raab’s appointment as secretary of state for Brexit.
Malthouse was first elected in 2015 and is currently a government minister in the department of work and pensions. He was previously deputy leader at Westminster City Council and a deputy mayor under Boris Johnson.
The chartered accountant worked with Deloitte & Touche before running for Westminster City Council in 1998, where was made deputy leader and cabinet member for finance.
In 2006 he stood down from the council and in May 2008 he was elected to the London Assembly. He was deputy mayor for policing before becoming deputy for business and enterprise in 2012.
The Queen has been pleased to approve the appointment of @kitmalthouse as Minister of State for Housing at @mhclg
— UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) July 9, 2018
Main image: Rex/Shutterstock
Melanie Leech, chief executive of the BPF said: “The housing sector will be frustrated with yet one more housing minister, but there are extenuating circumstances and the national interest must come first. However, if the Government is to meet its aspirations of delivering 300,000 new homes each year, this revolving door of housing ministers must stop.
“What’s most important now is that we do not lose momentum behind the housing policies born out of the Housing White Paper, which supported housing of all tenures including build-to-rent. We welcome Malthouse, we hope his previous experience at City Hall and Westminster City Council means he can hit the ground running, and we look forward to working with him to undo the damage caused by the acute undersupply of new housing over the past few decades.”
To send feedback, e-mail alex.peace@egi.co.uk or tweet @egalexpeace or @estatesgazette
