The Labour Party has made Matthew Pennycook, the MP for Greenwich and Woolwich, its housing minister.
Pennycook has been shadow housing minister since 2021, while he previously championed housing developments coming with associated infrastructure like schools and shops.
He was notable as the MP that tabled an amendment to the Renters (Reform) Bill which would have prevented landlords from selling for two years after the start of a tenancy.
Pennycook said: “It is a real honour to have been appointed Minister of State at the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).
“Tackling the housing crisis and boosting economic growth is integral to national renewal. Time to get to work.”
According to charity They Work For You, Pennycook has consistently voted for landlords paying for the costs of building safety works, stronger fire safety measures, more proscriptive planning laws, as well as against phasing out secure tenancies for life, as well as charging a market rent to high earners renting a council home.
The housing minister role has changed hands rapidly in recent years, largely because it’s a mid level position and also due to the chaos that surrounded the previous Conservative administration.
Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: “We have seen a revolving door of housing ministers since 2010, to the detriment of our housing system. With the appointment of Matthew Pennycook, we hope to finally see some stability in the office and a real commitment to taking the urgent steps necessary to fix the housing emergency.
“Matthew Pennycook must now get to grips with a long to-do list that tackles rising evictions, runaway rents and record homelessness. His first task is to bring forward a strong bill in this month’s King’s Speech that scraps no fault evictions in their entirety, limits in-tenancy rent increases, and extends notice periods.
“But ultimately the government must urgently get on with building the 90,000 genuinely affordable social homes a year that are needed to eradicate homelessness.”
Mark Perry, chief executive of affordable housing provider VIVID, said: “At a time when we have such a housing crisis, the need for social homes has never been greater and changes need to happen.
“We are looking forward to working with him and hear what his plans to solve the housing crisis are.”
Pennycook will serve under housing secretary Angela Rayner.
