Can Michael Gove fix Britain’s housing problem?

Editorial: The new housing secretary will have to ensure that ‘at least a million more homes’ will be built by the next election. The foundations are not yet secure, it must be said

Gove is set to pause scheduled radical changes in planning rules (AP)

When Michael Gove was switched in the ministerial reshuffle from the Cabinet Office, where he’d done much of the heavy lifting on Brexit and Covid, and to the housing department, there was much positive spin about how he’d be doing the heavy lifting there as well. This accomplished administrator, it was rumoured, was going to “deliver” on housing, a key part of the “levelling-up” agenda (that slogan also forming a key part of Mr Gove’s portfolio).

Now, though, it seems that maybe the new secretary of state for housing, communities and local government will be giving more weight to communities and local authorities than he will to the property developers to get on with solving Britain’s housing crisis. Mr Gove has let it be known he is minded to pause the scheduled radical changes in the planning rules, the better to understand the scale of the problem and alternative solutions.

This is the delayed impact of the loss of the Chesham and Amersham by-election to the Liberal Democrats in May. The surprise loss of a safe seat highlighted nimbyistic fears among Tory voters about new housing estates, some complete with (dread word) “social” housing and, very possibly, an increasing in supply that would hurt the value of their desirable residence(s).