Explainer-in-brief: Tory row puts help for social housing on hold
This week, the government pulled a vote on the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill to avoid an internal rift with Tory rebel MPs. The point of contention? The idea of top-down housing targets to be decided by central government.
A total of 50 Conservative MPs have signed an amendment to the bill which would have made the targets “advisory not mandatory”. They say they want to protect their constituencies from unchecked urban development. The other side accuses them of nimbyism.
This is a mess that Sunak will want to fix with the help of Levelling up Secretary Michael Gove. The latter has been busy dealing with the question of rogue housing associations. Yesterday on BBC Radio 4 he admitted the government “should have moved faster” to improve social housing conditions after the Grenfell fire.
Gove also said that new legislation, to come next year, will ensure tenants’ voices are “heard more clearly”.