Gove says he would ‘like to see’ 30,000 new social rented homes per year

Mr Gove said: “Tens of thousands of new homes for social rent will be built as a direct result of the way we have reprofiled that spending.

“I would like to see 30,000 new social homes being built at least every year. 

“We need to step up. We have one more year until we have general election and we need to see a significant increase in the run-up to the election, and I want to see numbers increase after that.”

The housing secretary was speaking to Mr Hewitt, one of the journalists behind ITV’s major investigation into the state of social housing across England, ahead of the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill being given Royal Assent.

The bill is expected to become law as early as Thursday and comes two-and-half-years after the ITV investigation launched and more than six years after its catalyst, the Grenfell Tower fire, claimed 72 lives. 

Councils and housing associations will be subject to more stringent and proactive consumer regulation, as well as inspections, alongside being obliged to report new tenant satisfaction measures to the Regulator of Social Housing. 

The bill includes a clause known as Awaab’s law, named after two-year-old Awaab Ishak who died from prolonged exposure to mould in a Rochdale Boroughwide Housing flat. The clause will require landlords to respond to and investigate repairs within certain timescales, which are yet to be set. 

Mr Gove said he thinks the bill will “make a big difference because we are putting those who are responsible for looking after tenants in social housing on notice”.

He stated that the government takes responsibility for the poor housing conditions uncovered by ITV. 

“It is a shared responsibility, but I don’t think we can shuffle off responsibility for central government’s role, as well. 

“We do need to make sure funding gets to the frontline and make sure there is an effective approach to regulation,” he added. 

Last week, The Guardian revealed that the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities had handed back hundreds of millions of pounds budgeted for 2022-23.

An analysis by the Chartered Institute of Housing estimated that 5,000 new affordable homes could have been funded from part of the £1.9bn underspend reported by the housing department.

Mr Gove said the money would be “reprofiled into future years” and insisted that “100%” the department would get that money back from the Treasury. 

He added: “Because of the inflationary environment at the moment, there are constraints to our ability, on anyone’s ability, to build at the moment.

“What we need to make sure is that we have a sustainable, long-term housing plan for housing, and that money will be spent in future years.”