Since news of Reed’s new position broke, housing and planning professionals question whether he can pick up where Rayner left off.
At the end of last week nightmare struck on Downing Street. Angela Rayner resigned her post after it was revealed she failed to pay the correct amount of stamp duty tax on her second home in Brighton.
The decision forced prime minister Keir Starmer into reshuffling his cabinet – a move that led to Steve Reed becoming Labour’s new secretary of state for housing, communities and local government. Previously, Reed served as the environment secretary for 14 months and he has been an MP for for Streatham and Croydon North since 2012.
Reed’s extensive political background suggests he may thrive in his new role, however housing and planning experts have raised concerns over his lack of direct experience.
Against this backdrop, Ben Beadle, chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, explained the first thing Reed should be looking to prioritise is ‘ensuring the smooth implementation of the Renters’ Rights Bill.
‘Alongside this there is a desperate need to support long-term investment in new decent quality homes to rent and ensure the private rented sector operates on the basis of trust and confidence between landlords and tenants.’
In similar vein, Melanie Leech CBE, chief executive of the British Property Federation, said: ‘We look forward to working with the Rt Hon Steve Reed MP in his new role as secretary of state for housing to unlock investment, tackle viability challenges and make sure the legislative and policy framework supports the real estate sector to thrive and help to deliver the economic growth the UK so desperately needs.
‘His predecessor made a bold start on reforming the planning system and empowering the English regions to strive for growth. We now need to collectively ensure that that agenda not only continues but that government works with the real estate industry closely to help deliver our collective ambitions.’
On the subject of growth, journalist James O’Malley was the first to highlight that Reed has some experience in trying to expand England’s housing stock. In April 2025, when working as the environment secretary, Reed gave the greenlight to Anglian Water and Cambridge City Council to deliver a new waste water treatment plant on the basis it would leave room for more properties to be constructed in the historical city.
However, three weeks ago Angela Rayner pulled the plug on the scheme as a result of the rising cost of materials and labour. Inside government it was determined that the development was no longer considered a value for money.
Yet with Angela Rayner’s resignation and Reed now in power, the future of the scheme may not be as bleak as originally thought.
‘Steve Reed brings a huge amount of experience to his new role. As a former leader of a London borough he has an excellent understanding the challenges of local government,’ Faraz Baber, chief operating officer at Lapro, said. ‘Furthermore as a former portfolio lead for housing across London Councils, combined with his time at DEFRA, he has a rich mix of direct experience. This should greatly help in delivering the ambitious 1.5m homes target. Also very importantly, his experience will ensure the UK can meets its transition to green energy through new green infrastructure such as onshore wind and solar.’
Echoing a similar tone, Cllr Tim Oliver, chair of the County Councils Network (CNN), added: ‘The new secretary of state inherits some of the biggest and most important policy agendas across Whitehall, with the fair funding review, planning and housing reforms, alongside devolution and local government reorganisation. These are seismic changes to the foundations of local government, and with CCN member councils most impacted by these reforms, it is vital the new ministerial team hit the ground running.
‘CCN will continue to press the case for sustainable and fair funding through the government’s funding review, a proportionate approach to planning reforms and to deliver wider ranging reforms to special educational needs and social care services.’
Photo by Nick Kane via UnSplash
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