Gavin Barwell MP was halfway up a tree, midway through sawing off a branch, when he got a call from the prime minister asking him to be the new housing minister.
Croydon Central came pretty close to having a by-election, the minister joked in a blog post on Sunday evening.
The father-of-three was elected Conservative MP for Croydon Central in 2010.
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He served under David Cameron as government whip and comptroller of HM household from May 2015 until this week.
Aside from routine planning battles and the daily correspondence on housing issues enjoyed by any London MP, Barwell’s most relevant experience for the job appears to be his stint as parliamentary private secretary to the minister of state for decentralisation and planning policy, Greg Clark, from 2011 to 2012.
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Now, he is taking on the role of not only minister for housing and planning, but minister for London at the Department for Communities and Local Government.
The double instruction, where Brandon Lewis held the singular title of minister for housing and planning, has drawn some scepticism from the industry.
Dominic Martin, operations and strategy director at investor and developer Westrock, said: “One slight concern is that London has been added to the ministerial brief, which may mean regions outside where there is equally a pressing need for quality housing of all types get overlooked.”
The fact that the role was one of the last to be announced in a major cabinet reshuffle which ended on Sunday was also taken by some to be a sign that housing was not at the top of Theresa May’s agenda.
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The DCLG has yet to issue a statement on how the new dual role will work.
Barwell tweeted on Sunday night: “Look forward to working with councils, housing associations, developers and investors to ensure we build the homes people need and deserve.
“And to working with @MayorofLondon to ensure the continued success of our wonderful, diverse capital – and that all Londoners share in it.”
While Barwell has yet to set out his housing agenda, a look at his past votes could be an indication of his views on development:
8 Jan 2014: Gavin Barwell voted against boosting housing supply by reforming the development industry; against measures to tackle landbanking; against a new generation of New Towns and Garden Cities and against giving local authorities a new right to grow to deliver the homes their communities need.
14 Oct 2015: Gavin Barwell voted in favour of allowing more devolution of powers to local councils and to enable councils to collaboratively form regional combined authorities.
3 May 2016: Gavin Barwell voted to require local councils to charge high income social housing tenants rent at levels set by central Government.
9 May 2016: Gavin Barwell voted not to exempt local councils from having to require certain new developments include starter homes to be sold at a discount if they provide affordable home ownership via other routes.
Source: https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/24863/gavin_barwell/croydon_central
As a fresh face in the housing role, he is likely to face renewed pressure for flexibility on starter homes, support for build to rent and policies such as an SDLT cut to help kick-start development during the current period of uncertainty.
Martin Bellinger, chief operating officer at Essential Living, said: “As a London focused build to rent developer, it’s great to have a housing minister who also has a constituency in the capital.
“It’s vital that we don’t continually push for home ownership at all costs and include build to rent as a crucial element of Britain’s housing solution.”
There will certainly be keen interest on whether he adopts a different approach from Lewis and looks to supply supply-side rather than demand-orientated policies to stimulate the housing market.
And he will have a new team to work with – the newly-appointed Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Sajid Javid; Minister for the Northern Powerhouse Andrew Percy and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the DCLG Marcus Jones.
