THE new Housing Secretary must continue to wage war on Britain’s housebuilders, a leading property association urged today.
Greg Clark was last week appointed as the new Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities replacing Michael Gove.

Days before leaving office, Mr Gove sparked fury by describing some of the UK’s biggest housebuilders as a “cartel” in comments to Conservative activists.

But the National Association of Property Buyers, who backed Mr Gove’s remarks, say Mr Clark should adopt a similar hard-line approach.

Spokesman Jonathan Rolande said: “”The NAPB welcomed the candid way in which one of the very serious issues within the property sector, the almost total control of the housebuilding sector by a small number of companies, was at last being acknowledged by the government and that plans are being prepared to put things right.

“The shortage of property and the construction of homes that are unsuitable for many potential owner-occupiers has contributed enormously to the current housing crisis.

“Mr Gove also seemed to be taking decisive action to make our homes safer. Whether his replacement will be quite as bold remains to be seen. This is an important issue which requires a hardline approach.

“Mr Gove seemed set on holding housebuilders to account over the cladding scandal, whether they were directly responsible for installing it or not.”

Reports at the weekend claimed a controversial £3billion levy was set to “blow a hole” in the UK’s affordable homes revolution.

New estimates from the Home Builders Federation (HBF) show that 75,000 homes targeting lower income families could be scrapped due to the charge, which the industry argues ‘unfairly’ targets UK companies.
The organisation has expressed its concerns in a letter to Mr Clark.
It wants him to reassess the proposal put forward in the wake of the cladding scandal by Gove, who enraged housebuilders in the way he described them.
Foreign firms will avoid the tax, according to the letter.
‘Inevitably, the message conveyed by your predecessor was that if a company wishes to avoid its obligations and minimise its costs, it is best served by headquartering itself overseas or ignoring reasonable requests by Ministers,’ according to an extract of the letter.
Housebuilders say they have already set aside billions to cover costs. The additional levy would damage their ability to fund future affordable housing projects.
The Government calculation for the £3billion figure has also been criticised, with some claiming it has been ‘plucked out of the air’.

Commenting on the letter, Mr Rolande added: “It seems housebuilders are retaliating in the only way they can, by threatening to withdraw their support to build 75,000 new low-cost homes. They also hit out at foreign-owned companies that would not be hit with the cladding levy and remind us all that their large dividends are paid to, amongst others, pension funds for UK citizens. In other words, “make us pay and the less well-off and pensioners will suffer”.

“There’s no doubt that housebuilders feel hard done by being hit with a bill of billions. But in reality, what are the alternatives? Make the leaseholders pay? The taxpayer to pick up the bill? That hardly seems fair either. It is vital the new Minister gets a grip on this issue quickly.”