There were fears last night that Mark Prisk’s forced departure from the role of minister of state for housing could leave the housing brief to a more junior under-secretary of state.
Prisk’s sacking leaves a collection of under-secretaries at the Department for Communities and Local Government, led by secretary of state Eric Pickles: Nick Boles on planning and Brandon Lewis on local government have been joined by a trio of new appointments.
These are Lib Dem Stephen Williams, an MP since 2005, Conservative Kris Hopkins, part of the 2010 intake, and former BBC executive Baroness Stowell, appointed a peer in 2011.
Prisk, 51, announced the news with a tweet saying: “Been asked to step aside from Housing for a younger generation. Disappointing but it’s been a great eleven years on frontbencher.”
At DCLG Prisk was associated with creating the £200m Build to Rent fund and the £450m Affordable Housing Guarantee Scheme which could offer up to £3.5bn in government debt guarantees. But, according to a recent profile in Inside Housing magazine, Prisk was not closely associated with the controversial Help to Buy programme, which is being steered from the Treasury.
Meanwhile, the Lib Dems’ Don Foster, formerly DCLG under-secretary with responsibility for communities, has been moved from that position and promoted to Lib Dem chief whip. At DCLG he was responsible for steering the ongoing Housing Standards Review, which is currently out to consultation.
The British Property Federation issued a statement praising Prisk’s support for the private rented sector and his efforts to spur greater institutional investment in new homes.
Ian Fletcher, director of policy at the BPF, said: “Mr Prisk leaves his office today having been a key part of the realignment of UK housing policy, which is now in a far better position than it was only a year ago.
“Housing is now higher up the political agenda than it has been for some time, and we would emphasise the importance of Mark’s successor continuing this approach. We hope that the next minister continues to face up to the huge challenges of supply with the same enthusiasm, and supports the delivery of homes for rent and sale.”
In other government reshuffle moves affecting the sector, Conservative Greg Clark has been appointed minister of state (cities and constitution) at the Cabinet Office, and Lib Dem Susan Kramer has been promoted to minister of state for transport.
In Labour’s team, Maria Eagle has been removed from her role as shadow transport secretary, a move interpreted as the party taking a step back from its support for HS2. Her replacement is Mary Creagh, formerly shadow environment secretary. And Emma Reynolds has been promoted to shadow housing minister attending shadow cabinet.
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