The new PM Rishi Sunak has appointed (rather surprisingly) Michael Gove for the job of Secretary of state for the department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities yesterday as part of his cabinet re-shuffle.

This appointment is a return for Mr Gove who spent 10 months in the role between September last year and July this year. He was eventually sacked by Boris Johnson, just days before the PM announced his resignation.

The announcement comes after the new PM stressed his commitment to the troubled levelling up agenda.

During his time as Housing Secretary, Mr Gove made progress on a number of key housing issues affecting the sector of the market.

He struck an agreement with Developers that would see them fix fire safety defects (cladding issues) on many of the buildings they constructed – this broke the impasse on the building and safety crisis earlier in the year.

He also brought in a number of amendments to the Building Safety Bill, which would put in place legislation to protect leaseholders from eye-watering fire safety remediation bills.

It was also a tenure that unpicked many of the policies that his predecessor Robert Jenrick put in place.

This was evident when he reviewed the plans put forward in Mr Jenrick’s Planning white paper, and then subsequently dropped many of them.

Melanie Leech, Chief Executive of the British Property Federation said “Michael Gove will be able to hit the ground running and we look forward to working with him again. The Property Industry is a critical partner on levelling-up and by unlocking investment we can the drive the changes we need in our communities up and down the Country.

Michael Gove replaces Simon Clarke, who was in the role for 49 days.

David Phillip Estate Agents, 86, Leeds Road, Bramhope, Leeds, LS16 9AN. T: 01134 676 400 w: davidphillip.co.uk

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