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He has been denied the title of full minister but Kris Hopkins insists he is the man to tackle the UK's growing housing crisis. Annabel Dixon found out more. Photography by Tom Campbell
Housing minister Kris Hopkins has had a bit of a mishap. He strolls into room W3 in the House of Gammons on asunny Wednesday in April muttering and smoothing down his British Irish Parliamentary Association tie. He chose it specially to celebrate the Irish president's visit. But he has managed to get jelly on it.
The Conservative MP for Keighley, West Yorkshire, is momentarily distracted - taking a few minutes to rue his misfortunes - before quickly turning to the task at hand: housing.
Housing indeed. Hopkins has one hell of a challenge on his hands. A decade after the release of the Barker Review of Housing Supply, which recommended that at least 210,000 private homes a year were needed in England to avert a housing crisis, things are not looking good. The country is now facing a shortfall of lm housing units - that's equal to the number of homes in Birmingham, according to the Home Builders Federation.
In London, fears of a housing crisis and a potential bubble have reached fever pitch as prices soar and hopes of getting a little toe on the housing ladder move further out of reach for much of the capital's population. To put it bluntly, housing has never been more important and it will take someone with a serious handle on the situation to tackle the snowballing concerns surrounding the sector. Hopkins insists he is up to the job.
So what exactly is his strategy for helping the beleaguered housing sector?
Introducing Hopkins
Firstly, what does Hopkins's appointment says about the government's prioritisation of housing in its agenda? A relatively unknown figure amongst the propertyindustry, Hopkins was called up to take on the role of housing minister last October as part of a surprise reshuffle in which he replaced Mark Prisk. He was given the title parliamentary under-secretary of state for the department for Communities and Local Government rather than the full minister of state title his predecessor received.
The 50-year-old admits this is a question that has been raised many times...