New Housing Secretary must focus on delivery, says FMB

September 5, 2025

The appointment of Steve Reed MP as Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, following the resignation of Angela Rayner MP, must signal the start of a new drive for delivery of the Government’s stated target to build 1.5 million new homes, says the Federation of Master Builders (FMB).

Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB commented: ”The former Housing Secretary made several high-profile announcements aimed at getting Britain building again, but the sad fact is that the number of new homes has fallen short of the 300,000 that are needed each year. Support for first time buyers is non-existent and the proposed planning reforms to speed up development have yet to be materialise.

Berry continued: “There are now added fears that proposed reforms to the landfill tax could add even more cost to building homes, thereby hampering attempts to grow the housing market. Any additional cost on delivering new homes would be a backwards step when we need more, not fewer, homes to be built.”

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