The new housing minister, Dominic Raab, has been labelled a rising star in the Conservative party, but the MP for Esher and Walton is something of an unknown quantity when it comes to housing.
Raab, who has replaced Alok Sharma following his redeployment as employment minister during this week’s Cabinet reshuffle, has a reputation as a rebellious Conservative from the free-market right of the party. He is pro-Brexit, and has voted for corporation tax cuts and against increasing benefits.
He clashed with prime minister Theresa May when she led the Home Office, leading a revolt on her immigration bill at the beginning of 2014 with an amendment making it easier to deport foreign criminals, which Downing Street said could have put the UK in breach of European human rights law.
Raab started his ministerial career in May 2015 as undersecretary of state to the minister for human rights at the Ministry of Justice. After the 2017 General Election he was appointed minister of state for courts and justice, under then-secretary of state for justice David Lidington.
Home ownership is part of Conservatism
“He supports home ownership and thinks home ownership is an integral part of Conservatism,” says Alex Morton, former No 10 adviser on housing policy and director at Field Consulting.
This could put Raab firmly in the housebuilder camp, and could spark concerns of a return to the “home ownership at all cost” policies that were popular under David Cameron.
However, another source said that he has free trade and pro-competition views, which could lead to a focus on new entrants to the housing market.
Raab’s own blog posts on housing – which started when he first became an MP in 2010 – largely ceased after 2012.
They paint a picture of a politician keen on protecting the green belt and removing top-down planning administration in the form of regional plans.
In the National Planning Policy Framework debate in October 2011, he said: “I endorse the government’s principal aim of streamlining the bureaucracy of the planning process. Rather than being forced to comply with diktats from a distant and faceless regional quango, Elmbridge Borough Council has replaced the regional plan with a local plan.”
More accountability
But his contribution also supported more accountability of developers at the local level.
“In my view, the developer’s right of appeal over the heads of our democratically elected councils should be curtailed and the balance shifted in favour of local communities and their representatives,” he said.
What his stance will be on the policies of former housing minister Gavin Barwell – who supported a wider range of tenancies – remains to be seen.
So, too, will be how Raab takes on the wider social housing brief his predecessor Alok Sharma began to look into during his seven-month tenure.
His immediate tasks will be navigating the implementation of last year’s Housing White Paper, and consulting on the Social Housing Green Paper. His tenure could be judged by how he balances and combines the briefs of general housing supply and affordable housing provision.
Working with Javid
Also of interest will be how he interacts with Sajid Javid, secretary of state for the newly renamed Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Morton says: “The interesting part will be him getting up to speed very quickly.
“May has given him a difficult task to see how he copes, because they have often clashed, but she respects him and he respects her.”
However, it could be interpreted as May giving Raab a poisoned chalice – if he succeeds, he helps the government out of a hole but, if he fails, it would not concern the prime minister to see him fail.
DCLG becomes department for Housing, Communities and Local Government
The Department for Communities and Local Government has been renamed the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Communities secretary Sajid Javid has retained his post in the cabinet reshuffle and added “housing” to his job title. In his role, Javid was already responsible for housing, so it is not clear whether the title change will have any significance. However, the renaming and referencing of Javid as housing secretary rather than communities secretary by the department appears to be a sign that housing will be further up its agenda.
There had been speculation that prime minister Theresa May would create a new cabinet-level housing secretary job to help co-ordinate housing policy across multiple departments. However, the title change appears to have ruled out the possibility of a new post, at least for the medium term,
Javid said: “Building the homes our country needs is an absolute priority for this government and so I’m delighted the prime minister has asked me to serve in this role. The name change for the department reflects this government’s renewed focus to deliver more homes and build strong communities across England.”
16th housing minister in two decades
The departure of Alok Sharma after just seven months will not only lead to the appointment of the 16th housing minister in two decades, but will also confer on Sharma the award of shortest tenure.
He spent just seven months in the role, according to an analysis by the Construction Products Association, beating Labour’s Caroline Flint and Margaret Beckett, who both managed eight months.
Ian Fletcher, director of real estate policy, BPF, said: “For one reason or another the housing brief has become something of a revolving door in government and it is vitally important the new team experiences some stability and backing from across Whitehall if it is to meet the aspirations of delivering 300,000 homes pa.
“Fixing the UK’s housing crisis is not only vital to those people affected, but underpins the government’s agenda on so many other levels, whether that is to increase UK productivity, economic growth or social well-being in the long-term.”
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