The new Housing Secretary is James Brokenshire MP for Old Bexley and Sidcup, situated between south east London and Kent.
He replaces Sajid Javid who moved to the Home Office after almost two years in charge of the housing brief. Mr Brokenshire last served in the cabinet as Northern Ireland Secretary between July 2016 and January 2018, but stood down in order to receive treatment for lung cancer. A former junior minister in the Home Office, the Right to Rent checks for landlords were brought in under his watch. These controversially require private landlords to check on the immigration status of those they rent homes to.
Mr Brokenshire inherits a busy and challenging work agenda including dealing with the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire, implementing the Hackitt Review, delivering on last year’s Housing White Paper and a stretching programme of 300,000 new homes a year, a variety of changes to the private rented sector and a long delayed Green Paper on social housing.
On his appointment, Mr Brokenshire said:
“One of my top priorities is going to be ensuring everyone affected by the Grenfell Tower fire gets the support they need and we learn lessons from the tragedy so something like this can never happen again. I am also looking forward to working with councils across the country by supporting them to deliver quality public services and build strong integrated communities.”
By Patrick Mooney, editor