New housing secretary Steve Reed has vowed to “build, baby, build” ahead of a key first meeting with Britain’s biggest developers and housebuilders this week.
Reed told senior civil servants over the weekend that this will be his mantra at his new post, according to the Telegraph.
He added that he intended to “move on to the next stage in unleashing one of the biggest eras of building in our country’s history”.
The housing secretary is set to meet key developers later this week to discuss the next to discuss the next phase of the UK’s planning reforms.
He is expected to tell them: “I will leave no stone unturned to build the homes Britain desperately needs.”
The housing department has identified that there are up to 1.4 million homes that have been granted permission but have not yet been built.
The government has vowed to build 1.5 million homes over the next four years, the country’s biggest housebuilding programme since the 1970s.
Reed’s comments come after a disappointing set of housebuilding figures from the Office for National Statistics last week.
There were 38,780 new homes built and completed between January and March, the numbers body said.
In the first quarter of this year, there were 21% fewer homes built and completed compared to the previous quarter, when there were a total of 49,160.
The number of homes built and completed also fell by 6% compared to the same period last year, when completed homes totalled 41,220.
The ONS figures show that there were 35,640 homes started in the first quarter, compared to the 32,010 in the previous quarter, an 11% increase.
Compared to the same period last year, the number of homes started increased by 17% from 30,350.
This is below a 75,000 quarterly housebuilding target that would be needed to hit 1.5 million homes by the end of this Parliament.
However, the housing department does not expect a step-change in housing starts until its Planning and Infrastructure Bill, currently making its way through parliament, becomes law.
Reed’s first major appearance in his new job is likely to come today, when he is set to lead the final Commons debate on Lords amendments to the Renter’s Rights Bill.
Reed became the housing secretary on Friday, taking over from Angela Rayner who resigned over her tax affairs.
