/MichaelGove-400x310.jpg)
Generation Rent, the activist group led by Baroness Alicia Kennedy, has given a warm welcome to the return of Michael Gove as Housing Secretary.
Gove - who pledged he was actually retiring from front-line politics little over a month ago - was last night named as the new Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
“Congratulations Michael Gove - welcome back. Generation Rent looks forward to working with you again” tweeted the Baroness overnight. Previously the campaign’s corporate Twitter account said that renters had been waiting three and a half years for reform, and it urged followers to tweet the new Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, urging the introduction of the Renters Reform Bill.
And Shelter, the campaigning charity which also wants progress on the Bill, was even more gushing about the new Housing Secretary. It tweeted: "After weeks of political uncertainty it's reassuring to see someone appointed who has previously committed to taking the urgent steps necessary to fix the housing emergency. Welcome Michael Gove."
The Bill had become becalmed in the House of Commons Parliamentary process in the hiatus since Boris Johnson’s resignation during the summer.
The letting agents’ trade body Propertymark also welcomed Gove’s return.
Its head of policy and campaigns, Timothy Douglas, says: “The Levelling Up agenda and reforms to the private rented sector in England would appear to be back and will take centre stage in the new government as Michael Gove returns to the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
“Mr Gove previously focussed on regional disparities and fixing the cladding scandal, but he now needs to go further and tackle the supply crisis in the private rented sector, implement the next steps for leasehold reform, set out the UK Government’s plans for home buying and selling as well engage with the sector to get more people onto the housing ladder and stimulate right sizing to release large, family homes.”
Sunak’s Cabinet reshuffle - which included ministers from all sides of the Tory party - has not yet been extended down to junior ministers, who tend to be those with responsibility for specific legislation such as the Renters Reform Bill.
Gove replaces the little-known Simon Clarke, appointed as Levelling Up Secretary by former PM Liz Truss.
Clarke tweeted overnight: “It has been a great privilege to serve as Secretary of State, working alongside some terrific people to level up our communities, just as it was before that as chief secretary at the Treasury. It has only been while holding these positions that I’ve come to appreciate the full weight of responsibility that ministers bear, and we are deeply fortunate to be supported in this by our civil servants and special advisers (and never forget them on days like today).”
Want to comment on this story? Our focus is on providing a platform for you to share your insights and views and we welcome contributions.
If any post is considered to victimise, harass, degrade or intimidate an individual or group of individuals, then the post may be deleted and the individual immediately banned from posting in future.
Please help us by reporting comments you consider to be unduly offensive so we can review and take action if necessary. Thank you.
.jpg)
%20(002).png)
.png)
Join the conversation
Jump to latest comment and add your reply
Be careful what you wish for!
Never thought I'd like a comment you make Mark but there we go. I guess stranger things have happened.
Oh joy…… at least the uncertainty is coming to an end and landlords can make their decisions.
And what’s your decision?
Let's hope that Michael Gove listens to reason this time, and not the activists - for the sake of all the tenants.
Unlikely - Gove changes position with the wind and like Boris, jumps on any bandwagon that helps brand Gove. I cannot understand how he has gone from weasel to national treasure. he will unleash misery for LLs and thus tenants.
You may be right Tricia, but he must be able to see that placing such heavy burdens on landlords and, at the same time, making them lose control of their properties, will lead to a very large number serving Section 21 notices. That is inevitable. It is always unwise to try to compel people to do anything.
He will be branded as the man who caused a crisis of homelessness because he didn't listen at all to the people who owned the property.
Gove will do whatever he thinks makes him look good. So depressing that he is back.
I would never vote conservative again any way. This just triple locks my commitment. A vile back stabber with the Ora of a con man . Just up Alicia Kennedy s street.
Understand and agree with the sentiments, I feel the same. But that leaves the question as to the alternative parties- is Labour going to he a better bet for us lls? Somehow I don't see it.
I was thinking the same thing, Saul. However, Welsh Labour at least has retained no fault evictions in their legislation, while the Conservative White Paper expects us to hand over our properties indefinitely.
Welsh Labour did not want to create a housing crisis. The Conservatives apparently didn't care if they did.
Not voted for any party since 2015 and certainly won't vote for the best of a bad lot.
Mark, don’t worry we are not going get anything we wish for.
Gove, Rishi’s first mistake re-installing saboteur’s and congratulated by more saboteurs. I don’t care
anymore I have lost interest, they can do what they like, go and boil their head. I might we’ll go sit in the middle of the road with the rest of them.
I will bring the glue and sit next to you to keep you company. If we sniff it too it will help all of our problems go away. We can become depended on benefits as a lifestyle choice and be homed by the landlords that stay.
If you can’t beat them let’s joint them.
Some 60 years ago when I was at University I saw a protester lie down in the street and take a tablet. When the coppers tried to remove him he said he had just taken his heart tablet and must not be moved for half an hour. The coppers did not know what to do.
At this time superglue was not available so protesters had to use other sorts of quasi 'glue'.
Turkey’s welcoming Christmas
Gove the snake is back.
Dance the night away , and the day by the look of him
That would be the columbian marching powder.
That one line worries me. Gove wants to "stimulate right sizing to release large family homes". So that sounds like he wants to take back HMOs to house large families.
I thought that might have meant moving couples and single people out of their houses/homes so that they can use them for families. That would be the aim of a megalomaniac, of course.
Martin - Possibly referring to local authority family homes being occupied by a sole tenant - I know of a few in that situation.
Don't they just want retirees to move out of their family homes? I'm not moving to a one-bed bungalow where my family can't visit because someone else can't afford a house big enough for the family they chose to have!
…or force those with large family homes to sell and downsize ?
I think it means where one or 2 people are living in a property with more than 2 bedrooms. I don't think it means HMO's, as that's quite an efficient way of housing people. I thought they had been trying this with social housing for years? You would think some people might want to move to a smaller more energy efficient home anyway. Not sure how they would do it for PRS or for owner occupiers. I have noticed locally there are relatively more 1 bed flats to rent at present.
"but he now needs to go further and tackle the supply crisis in the private rented sector"
This one made me chuckle - the man with the wrecking ball tackling the supply crisis is a bit of an oxymoron. I realize that that was a comment from Propertymark and actually is a comment that should be raised by the likes of Polly and Alicia .... although they rarely seem to do so as it would involve pro-landlord policies. Funny times we live in
Made me laugh too! Talk about kill it off.
GW - It’s the selling up camp 💰💰 near retirement and simply cannot be bothered, seen to many of my old school acquaintances die way before their time, it’s very life focusing, so I am off over the next few years.
Don’t blame you, I’ve retired early and don’t regret it but thinking now might be best time to cash in rather than watch their values drop until and after next election and then be told what I can or cannot do with it..
The best way to increase supply is to reduce demand. Council waiting lists are fake, 11’000 on waiting lists in Ealing alone + 2’000 in BnB do think all those are genuine maybe half.
Why have you created a system to promote single parent families all kept & housed this has snowballed and dad goes free or probably housed somewhere else.
The economy is collapsing under the weight of free loaders. I seen food bank open other day scores of mature adults in and out, well dressed no sign of work about them but all holding massive slab iPhones.
Council waiting lists are certainly questionable. How many people on them are still alive or still live in the area? How many have found perfectly suitable private sector housing but just fancy a subsidized Social house, especially if they are self funding? How often do people have to update their details?
The single parent household is largely down to the pitiful amount of UC a second adult in a household is entitled to.
How many full size adults can survive on £7 a day for food, clothing, entertainment, transport, etc?
Thousands of families live apart, even though they still get on, because it's the only thing that is financially viable. One of them rents a house, has the Child Benefit entitlement, works a few hours to get the maximum UC earnings disregard. The other one rents the cheapest room they can find, earns as much as possible, isn't affected by the loss of Child Benefit at £50K (as the children reside with the other parent). They can spend random chunks of time in the family home without any issues as long as it's not a regular pattern. The solution wouldn't involve cutting UC as such but could be done by changing how much each adult and each child gets. Currently a child gets nearly twice as much as an adult, which is bizarre as children don't make the spending choices.
They need the iPhones to claim their benefits !!!
Good grief, I honestly thought this daft loser had finally left the stage. Ministers can only fail upwards it would appear
I had hoped that we had seen the back of that dreadful little man
The one thing I like about Gove is when he is interviewed he does answer the questions, as apposed to dodging them, saying something else.
Write to the PM and point out that it will result in a sub prime type crisis, since the propertirs won't be recoverable by the banks and lots of tenants won't pay ! It's amazing that the council of mortgage lenders are going along with this
I think it’s wonderful to have so many clowns in high places. Well done Mr Michael Gove back in the saddle again encouraged and congratulated by Generation Rent, Ms Alicia Kennedy, Shelter and other activist’s groups. I don’t know why the Tenants puts up with you spouting out nonsense & lies, making Renting unaffordable.
Build 2 Rent Greenford Rd, UB6,
Studio £1530. pm
One bed Flat £1800, pm
2 bed Flat £2245. pm
3 bed Flat £2885 pm.
My properties good quality like many Traditional Landlords are about half those Rents, yet we are attached, bullied and getting forced out of Business, with Rogue White Paper,
S.24 and removal of S.21,
What difference if they freeze those stupid Rents ?,
Please login to comment