With the recent re-shuffle bringing Christopher Pincher as the latest in a long line of Housing Ministers, I really do hope the Prime Minister is able to take control of his Cabinet in order that some work can be done; I would say that whichever party is in power, because we seem to have lived in chaos for some years.

The recent re-shuffle saw Esther McVey, the last short-lived Housing Minister, as a casualty.  Would the tenth in ten years doing any better? Only time will tell whether Christopher Pincher, the MP for Tamworth, will have a longer stay. 

Mr Pincher is the MP for Tamworth and had formerly been the Minister of State for the Foreign Office. I don’t wish to be unkind, and perhaps it is just that I am out of touch, but I’ve never heard of him. 

He’s been an MP only 10 years, coincidentally the same time that the Housing Ministers job became such a hot seat, nobody has stayed any length of time. What has he done in 10 years that he was unknown to me, but I feel sure, also many others?

Despite the stresses of the past months, with Brexit and Meghxit, and now Corona Virus, housing is still acknowledged as a major concern. Whilst there are a number of developments with 4 beds and 2 bathrooms and bigger, there seems a lot less building of the smaller, more affordable homes for the aspiring home ownership group.

Waiting lists for the small amount of social housing that is being built are such that it is difficult to see that more than a small percentage will be housed.

The answer is private sector, but landlords are taking business decisions that they will leave the sector. They feel attacked by local authorities, derided in the media. Mr Pincher, what will you do? 

He was pleased when it was announced that £4 million would be allocated to tackle Anti-social behaviour. That sounds a lot, but when looked at as covering the country, it is only a very small sum that each Council could access for tackling these problems.

Please Mr Pincher, look at the eviction procedures. Make it easier for landlords to evict those tenants that do commit anti-social behaviour; stop treating private landlords as the enemy, but instead as the allies they are in the difficult job the country faces in housing those who need it in decent properties. 

We are in this together!

For advice on buy to let issues – General Knowledge