Speaking at the Great Housing Market Debate 2016 at One George Street in London, Terrington said: “The whole raft of decision making is geared towards the next election.
Paragon’s chief executive Nigel Terrington has reiterated calls for an ‘independent housing ministry’ to weed out short-termism in the housing market.
Speaking at the Great Housing Market Debate 2016 at One George Street in London, Terrington said: “The whole raft of decision making is geared towards the next election.
“Back in 1997 we created an independent Bank of England because we had historically seen political interference in interest rate setting taking place.
“I would create an independent housing ministry to stand outside of government which was able to operate with 20 to 30 year horizons on housing strategy.”
His colleague John Heron, who is managing director of Paragon, added: “The fact is that under this government the housing minister has become less relevant because housing policy has been defined by the Treasury and Chancellor George Osborne.”
This isn’t the first time the industry has called for a long-term housing plan independent of political control.
In November 2014 the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ then-chairman Stephen Noakes said the government should launch a 10-year plan with cross party support to boost housebuilding.
And in January 2015 Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association executive director Peter Williams called for a root and branch review into housing policy, adding: “Housing is a long-term challenge that demands long-term solutions and one which requires cross party support.”
Instability in the housing market hasn’t been helped by the revolving door around the position of housing minister.
Before the incumbent housing minister Brandon Lewis was appointed in 2014 Kris Hopkins held the role for 10 months, Mark Prisk was in charge for one year and one month and Grant Shapps was housing minister for two years and four months.
In February the Labour Party announced a review into UK homeownership headed Peter Redfern, chief executive of builder Taylor Wimpey, which will report at the end of the summer.
Terrington added: “[An independent housing ministry would] be able to protect the countryside and the parts of the country that are needed, so it would be like a regulator in that sense.
“But equally it would be able to then direct resources and commit to set a long-term strategy which it simply cannot do under the current structure.”
