Politics, right? You blink - a Housing Minister is out. You blink again - it's the Prime Minister's turn. The political turmoil that overtook Westminster in the past weeks has put the housing sector into a state of near-paralysis after the Housing and Levelling Up department was cleaned out following sackings and resignations. Will the new leadership truly commit to measures that will resolve the housing crisis? 

20 Housing Ministers in 25 years 

Stuart Andrew's resignation granted him the title of the shortest-serving housing minister since the role was created in 1997. At the Manchester Housing Conference, he committed to the 300,000 homes a year target. He also mentioned plans to encourage councils to build more homes, with an announcement to happen "very soon". Well, "very soon" never happened. 

It's now up to the new 'new' Housing Minister, Marcus Jones, to take on the challenge. He will work alongside Greg Clark, who replaced Michael Gove as secretary of state for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. Greg promised the "stability the housing sector needs to support and deliver the government's ambitions housing agenda". 

But the housing sector is not so convinced and fears a huge step back in housing policies, including:  

• Abolishing Section 21 and improving the Private Rented Sector 

• Improving housing mobility for social housing tenants 

• Introduction of rent controls as cost of living crisis worsens 

• Building enough affordable homes 

In the meantime, 30,000+ people in England have been on a social housing waiting list for 10 years or more 

While new housing policies and reforms are put on hold until the Government sort its own mess, the housing crisis continues to spiral.  After collecting freedom of information requests from 10 councils with the highest demands for council homes in England, The Big Issue revealed that at least 30,000 people across England are waiting 10 years or more for a social housing property. 

Our national mobility scheme, Homefinder UK, offers a valuable move-on alternative for households and providers alike. Over 50 local authorities and housing associations engage with the service to prevent and relieve homelessness. So far, the scheme has rehoused over 1000 homeless households, including domestic abuse survivors. 
  

Social activism is here to stay 

The pressure on social housing providers is also increasing as social tenant activism is picking up. The name Kwajo Tweneboa now sounds familiar to a lot of housing professionals out there. The 23-year-old activist has become a voice for social housing tenants after exposing the poor living conditions of some social housing tenants across the UK using video recordings and social media platforms. His actions led the National Housing Federation and the Chartered Institute of Housing to launch an independent panel to help tackle poor-quality homes. 

New departments, new processes?

And in the midst of it all, with the political changes and new agendas coming to the forefront, housing providers should expect processes to change. That's when flexibility and configurability can be a game-changer. We are proud to offer bespoke and integrated housing needs software that helps local authorities to keep up with all the changes. Just recently, our Homelessness Reduction Act software (hope) has launched a new integration service to allow housing professionals to submit HCLIC returns directly through our platform, replacing a manual upload to DLUHC's system. 

What the housing sector needs is stability and a real commitment from the national Government to turn promises into reality - to solve the housing issues and to help communities across the UK to cope with the cost of living crisis. With or without a Housing Minister.