New housing minister

Bsria has welcomed the announcement of Dominic Raab as the new housing minister as part of the prime minister’s reshuffle to her cabinet.

He has replaced Alok Sharma after just seven months and becomes the seventh housing minister since 2010. Mr Raab, a leading Brexiter, had previously served as justice minister, with Mr Sharma now becoming the new employment minister at the Department of Work and Pensions.

Julia Evans, chief executive, Bsria, said:

“On behalf of Bsria members – we welcome Mr Raab into this important role. But we need to know that there is stability ahead for, not only our members, but also for the industry at large. This post has seen a flurry of figures in the last few years – so a level of constancy is now needed.

As ever – Bsria is calling for Mr Raab to continue to foster and deliver robust housing polices. We learned in the recent government Autumn Statement that the housing industry is set to receive £44bn in financial incentives to increase supply to 300,000 new homes a year by the mid-2020s, the biggest annual increase in housing supply since 1970. However, BSRIA stresses that: quantity must not be at the cost of quality.

And in this respect – BSRIA invites the minister to work closely with industry. Building houses must be considered a strategic race, not a tactical sprint.” A lawyer by profession, Mr Raab worked for the Foreign & Commonwealth Office before his election to Parliament in 2010. His appointment comes a day after Sajid Javid had housing added to his ministerial brief under the reshuffle. Formerly he was secretary of state for communities and local government but the shakeup means Javid is now Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government.