The housing model in the UK is “broken,” said Housing Minister Michael Gove.
The remarks of the senior cabinet minister form a foreword to a collection of essays by the liberal-conservative think tank Bright Blue.
First reported by the Time newspaper, Mr Gove writes: “We urgently need more homes to bring property within the reach of many more people.”
The essays, written by Tory MPs as well as commentators and pundits discuss a thorny issue for the government.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak last year succumbed to pressure to meet the target of 300,000 homes per year England advisory rather than mandatory.
Mr Gove wrote: “We all agree that the current housing model – from supply to standards and the mortgage market – is broken. There is no denying that change is needed.”
Elsewhere in the collection of essays, Tory MP Shaun Bailey – one of the batch of MPs to be elected for the first time in 2019 Tories was given so-called “red wall” seats by Labor – criticizes housing progress over the decades.
“Over the past 20 years, the supply of good quality housing has completely failed to keep pace with demand, driving house prices ever higher,” he writes in comments first reported by the Mirror.
“This imbalance has led to millions of people living in inadequate housing, with the poorest and most marginalized in society being the most vulnerable.”