Ready, Steady… Build!

On April Fool's Day, we suggested – with a perfectly straight face – that the conditions may be in place for a return to the glory days of local authority house building.

Less than four months on, we find ourselves with:

• a new Prime Minister;
• a new Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government;
• a new Minister for Housing and Planning,
• a new London Mayor; and
• a newly created Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union.

If a week is a long time in politics, a few months is a lifetime.

Against a background of political instability, one thing has remained – the pressing need for more houses. It is an imperative which no amount of Ministerial reshuffles can dilute. Indeed, our new Prime Minister recognised the importance of addressing the "housing deficit" as part of her recent – and ultimately successful – leadership campaign.