MHCLG: fire safety will be excluded from any deregulatory drive 

The prime minister went on to say that it was too simplistic to see regulation as good or bad.

“Some regulation is life-saving,” he added. “We saw that in recent weeks here with a report on the tragedy of Grenfell Tower. 

“But across our public sector, I would say the previous government hid behind regulators, deferred decisions to them because it was either too weak or indecisive, or simply not committed enough to growth.”

MHCLG was asked by Inside Housing how further deregulation across the sector would be compatible with the findings of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry report.

The recommendations included a single regulator to oversee all the construction industry, for contractors working on higher-risk buildings to be licensed and come under the scope of a new regulator, and a review of the definition of higher-risk buildings.

Just last month, survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire criticised former prime minister David Cameron for his claim that fire safety regulations were not part of his government’s ‘red tape challenge’.

Launched by Lord Cameron in April 2011, the challenge aimed to cut back on regulation that was thought to be holding back economic growth.

The inquiry concluded that a “poorly run”, “complacent” and “defensive” government department “failed to act on what it knew” about dangerous cladding in the years before Grenfell, amid an enthusiasm for deregulation that “dominated” its thinking.

It assessed 30 years of missed warnings of a looming cladding disaster by ministers, officials and advisors at the department now known as MHCLG.

The rest of Sir Keir’s pitch to investors this week spoke of how a “brownfield-first approach will not only ramp up housebuilding, but also create more jobs, deliver much-needed infrastructure and boost economic growth across the country”.

Following his speech, the government revealed a £68m boost to its Brownfield Land Release Fund to prepare challenging sites for housebuilding.

This was announced alongside news that tens of thousands of new homes will be built across Britain funded by more than £550m worth of impact investments.

Stephen Muers, chief executive of Better Society Capital, said: “We’re encouraged to see the new government recognise the power of social impact investment, which is already changing people’s lives and improving communities across the UK.

“The sector is growing, with a 12-fold increase in social impact investments made in the UK over the last 12 years, but we need to accelerate this investment if we are going to address the increasing inequalities in our society.

“This announcement from the government illustrates how social issues, like housing, can be addressed by harnessing private investment for impact.”