PM chairs first housing taskforce meeting

The prime minister Theresa May has emphasised the need for a step-change “right across government” to ease the housing shortage, as she chaired the inaugural meeting of the Housing Implementation Taskforce.

The new taskforce – a cross-government working group attended by MPs including the housing secretary Sajid Javid and the chancellor Philip Hammond – met for the first time on Monday (February 5) to discuss the progress the government was making towards boosting housing supply and what further actions were needed.

According to a Downing Street spokesperson, the PM stressed the crucial role that all government departments had to play in “helping to fix the broken housing market and deliver 300,000 additional homes by the mid-2020s”.

The PM reiterated “that a step change was needed right across government and that all departments needed to think creatively about how they can contribute to building the homes the country needs,” the spokesperson added.

Topics of discussion included the steps the government had already taken to solving the crisis, “including further investment at the Budget, planning reform, releasing land faster, the Housing White Paper and building more affordable housing”.

The taskforce also highlighted the “key role” of Homes England …