Shelter responds to Secretary of State, Michael Gove's "mixed bag" speech on housing

Polly Neate, Chief Executive of Shelter said: “It’s positive to see that housing is back on the agenda and that the Secretary of State is not afraid to build. But Michael Gove’s speech on housing was a real mixed bag. We need proper investment to build much-needed genuinely affordable homes, not more piecemeal reform.

“Converting takeaways and shops into homes and restricting building to city centres won’t help. It could risk creating poor quality, unsafe homes that cause more harm than good.

“When we are losing more social housing than we build, the government must work with councils to deliver the quality homes local communities across the country need. The Secretary of State clearly agrees these homes are essential, so the government should put its money where its mouth is and get on with building a new generation of social homes.”

ENDS