The Rt Honourable Kit Malthouse MP, former Housing Minister under Theresa May, has warned that the current Government will "massively undershoot" its housing target due to capacity constraints and market disruption, in an interview for the Federation of Master Builders' (FMB) "Build Up from the Basement" podcast.
Speaking with FMB Media Manager Iona Stewart Richardson, Malthouse reflected on his tenure as Housing Minister and the challenges of meeting ambitious housing targets. When asked about his predictions for the current government, he stated bluntly: "They're going to undershoot massively for two reasons. First of all, they're facing the same constraints or possibly even worse than we did."
He identified several specific constraints on building new homes during his time in office, including brick and breeze block production capacity, and the collapse of the small building sector following the 2008 crash. "Before then 50% of or over 50% of the houses were built by small builders, afterwards that collapsed to below 20% and it never really came back," he noted.
Malthouse emphasised that he sought to transform the culture at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, telling his team: "Don't you realise that our job is not just to produce policy. Our job is to produce houses." He demanded a "church totaliser" tracking exactly where houses would come from across different regions, and requested weekly photos of himself "handing over the keys to a new house to a smiling young family," explaining: "It has to be real, right? And we have to see the effects of this."
The former minister didn't hold back on quality concerns, stating:
"I'm afraid that there is a sort of conspiracy of crap between the housing industry and the planning system" where "levelling down takes place" to avoid disputes, producing "ubiquitous crap across the country that has no sense of place or vernacular."
His solution was to shift the conversation from quantity to quality. "We're not having a conversation here about quantity, right? We're having a conversation about quality. Design and location, the type of houses," he explained, describing his successful approach with resistant councils. He promoted his "more, better, faster" mantra during his tenure, arguing that once communities understood houses were coming regardless, productive conversations about design and location became possible. On negotiations with Buckinghamshire Council over the Oxford Cambridge Arc development, he said: "Let's just talk about where they're going and what they're going to look like."
On today's housing market, Malthouse cited "penal levels of stamp duty" and sticky inflation keeping interest rates high as major problems. He also noted the collapse of the buy-to-let market, which previously served as "quite a good pump primer from a capital point of view." He warned that until rates fall and capacity expands, "we're going to have a problem." When asked about recent FMB research which found less than half of parents would recommend their child take up a career in construction, Malthouse emphasised three key selling points: "It is and can be an aspirational career," workers will not be "short of work" over the next 20-30 years, and "if you play it right you can do very well." He called for the industry to demonstrate clear progression pathways, similar to McDonald's showing employees they can advance to management positions within years.
Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB, said:
"I am delighted that The Rt Hon Kit Malthouse MP has joined us on the FMB's Build Up from the Basement podcast, he has a strong track record as Theresa May’s Housing Minister and brings expert insight into the construction industry and housing policy. We thank him for his candid reflections and his continued advocacy for a construction sector that not only encourages more people to consider it as a career but also delivers homes that we can be proud of. This episode is incredibly insightful and interesting, well worth a listen!"
Notes to editors
The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) is the largest trade association in the UK construction industry representing thousands of firms in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Established in 1941 to protect the interests of small and medium-sized (SME) construction firms, the FMB is independent and non-profit making, lobbying for members’ interests at both the national and local level.
The FMB is a source of knowledge, professional advice and support for its members, providing a range of modern and relevant business building services to help them succeed. The FMB is committed to raising quality in the construction industry and offers a free Find a Builder service to consumers.
