“After nine years in which we have seen four prime ministers and nine Conservative housing ministers, the same minister after a general election is welcome news.”
The government has a target to build 300,000 new homes a year by the mid-2020s. If this is to be achieved, Mr Newcomb said there must be “unrelenting political determination” behind concerted action to simplify and speed up planning approvals for un-controversial applications to increase housing completions.
The whole thrust must be implementation, he added, to enable BMF members to invest confidently in the people and materials and products needed.
During the general Election, housing hardly featured as politicians talked predominately about Brexit, the NHS, education and policing. But as ministers return to work, Mr Newcomb wants ministers to focus on two major issues affecting BMF members: narrowing the gap between housing demand and supply, and the decarbonisation of heating and electrification of homes.
