Arise Sir Eric. Former communities secretary Eric Pickles is to be knighted for his service as an MP we learned this week. In a letter informing him of the honour, David Cameron said he would be rewarded for his efforts in tackling the housing crisis.
“I really do believe our housing policies, including right to buy were landmark achievements from our first term,” Cameron wrote. “You have helped lay the ground for us to continue with these reforms in the years to come, helping more people onto the housing ladder with the security that home ownership brings.”
It’s easy to be disheartened by this letter because, on the contrary, Pickles has actually done more than most in the Conservative party to undermine the prime minister’s ambition to get new homes built.
In the last five years alone, the former communities secretary has been involved in the rewriting of planning policy, the guidelines of which are so scant that housebuilders can sidestep their responsibilities to build social housing or contribute from their profits to help councils or housing associations do so in their place.
He has stepped in to block controversial housing developments, using neighbourhood planning and the wishes of local communities as a foil. Almost 10,000 new homes went unbuilt in the run up to the general election thanks to this one man alone.
During his tenure, Pickles protected the green belt at all costs, with little consideration for the human and environmental impact of allowing so many of the population to remain badly housed. And he has ignored the advice of planners, councillors and housing professionals in supporting the extension of the right-to-buy scheme (though this final transgression is, of course, much less remarkable).
In fact, the announcement of a knighthood for Pickles is not a signal but white noise. For in his place is the ambitious and clear-thinking Greg Clark.
The architect of city deals and an advocate of giving more power to local councils, Clark’s ideas were the precursor to the government’s northern powerhouse strategy and could herald the beginning of a new relationship between social landlords and the government. So committed is he to the economic benefits of devolution that he argued to keep his cities brief when reshuffled into the Treasury three years ago. Devolution means focusing on urgent local concerns. In many areas, boosting local economic growth will require tackling the housing shortage first.
We have a new government that (at least in addressing the public) accepts there is a housing crisis. Instead of a party henchman we now have a pragmatist in charge of the delicate relationship between central and local government, a relationship that will dictate how the crisis is solved.
It is interesting, too, that the prime minister has chosen to appoint Marcus Jones, MP for Nuneaton, to lead on homelessness within the department for communities and local government. His re-election in Nuneaton on 7 May was one of the early signs it was not to be Labour’s night.
The move sends a signal that the government recognises housing as a growing issue and one that Labour had committed to act on. Now the very MP who began the slow unravelling of Labour’s dream is now asked to help solve a problem that could otherwise help the incoming leader of the opposition to land their strongest blows.
Ignore the noise and tune in to the signal: this government opens for business with housing lined up as a priority. Keeping it at the top of the to do list is a job for the rest of us.
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