LEVELLING Up Secretary Michael Gove has denied he is on “mission impossible” in trying to increase the availability of housing in the country.
Asked by Eamonn Holmes on GB News if his job was “mission impossible”, he replied: “No, I don’t think it is mission impossible, but you are right. The first thing is that the high street is changing, the whole pattern of shopping is changing.
“But in order to have attractive high streets in the future, I think we want to have more people living in town and city centres and then the high street will become more of a place for some independent shops, yes, but also for leisure and for hospitality.
“And that is happening..in our best urban centres and places, like Manchester and elsewhere, we are seeing that change come about.”
He also said: “We have delivered just last year the highest number of new homes for three decades. So we’ve done a lot but there is a lot more to do.
“Now, in some cases, what we announced yesterday will involve existing homes where there’s already the infrastructure in place being turned into homes and a change of use from commercial properties towards residential.
“But it is also the case with these major new developments. You do need to plan thoughtfully and it takes time. And ours is a long term plan so it will see more new homes built every year.
“But you are right. The only way that you will ever get to the level of housing that we need is if you think long term and that means starting now.”
He added: “We know that we need more new homes, but there’s a lot that we’ve done as a government to increase the number of homes in this country. But we need to go further.
“We also need to make sure that they’re in the places where the demand is highest and the places where it makes most sense economically and environmentally.”
