Matthew Pennycook has been appointed a Minister of State in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).
His appointment was made after Angela Rayner was announced as the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
Pennycook has been the MP for Greenwich and Woolwich since 2015.
When it was announced that the Renters Reform Bill would not be passed before the election, Pennycook accused the Conservatives of caving in to vested interests and not keeping the promises made in the bill.
At the time, he said: “Labour will turn the page on 14 years of Tory chaos, deliver where the Tories have failed and pass robust renters reform legislation that abolishes Section 21 no-fault evictions immediately and decisively levels the playing field between landlords and tenants.”
Last week, Angela Rayner was appointed housing secretary.
Housing must play ‘pivotal role’
Reacting to the appointment, Nathan Emerson, CEO of Propertymark, said he welcomed Pennycook as the housing minister.
Emerson added: “Housing must play a pivotal role for the government moving forwards and in real terms, delivering over 1,100 new homes every single working day for the next five years will take immense planning and enormous stakeholder engagement to achieve.
“There needs to be a long-term cross-party approach with continuity built in as standard – we should never be looking at a housing plan as an insular five-year government term, in case of any change down the line.”
“The housing sector is crying out for a vastly increased supply to keep pace with demand; there simply can be no room for error moving forwards or we may end up with prices artificially rocketing due to consumer desperation in finding a suitable home for their needs.
“There must be a broad mix of sustainably built homes that brings much-needed stock to both buyers and renters. The plan must be delivered with precision and in a way that is connected with wider government planning to ensure key infrastructure is provisioned for as the population further grows,” Emerson said.
Shekina is the deputy editor at Mortgage Solutions and commercial editor at Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions. She has nearly eight years of experience in the B2B publishing market, having previously covered the hospitality, retail, pet, accounting and jewellery sectors.
Shekina has worked for Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions for almost five years. Here, she covers the market’s breaking news stories, engages with professionals in the sector, and oversees any commercially agreed content in partnership with mortgage-related companies.
This includes presenting webinars and hosting roundtable discussions on developing themes in the mortgage sector.
She is an NCTJ-trained journalist and was nominated for the Headline Money Awards Mortgage Journalist of the Year in 2021.
In her spare time, Shekina likes to read, travel, listen to music and socialise with friends.
She currently reports on current events in the mortgage market and liaises with financial clients to produce sponsored content.
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