Marcus Jones, MP for Nuneaton, was appointed as Minister for Housing and Planning in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on 8th July 2022. In order to understand some of the key issues affecting the sector, he agreed to meet a group of representatives from CHIC’s members and supply chain partners for a round table discussion on Friday 29th July – the new Minister’s first opportunity to meet sector representatives.
The event was chaired by CHIC’s Chair, Maggie Punyer, and attended by senior executives of CHIC and its most active members and contractor partners.
This paper provides a summary of the key issues raised with the Minister, as being of real concern to the sector. CHIC’s Chair introduced the session and welcomed the Minister. As a precursor to the discussion Marcus Jones MP explained he was aware that there were very real issues troubling tenants at present, around the impact of inflation on gas and electricity prices, but that social housing landlords also had inflationary pressures on rents, needing to fund investment to achieve ‘net zero’, resident safety and compliance. He was here to listen and to learn.