The latest announcement of the new housing minister has been strongly criticised by the media because of not only is he a landlord he was one of the MPs that successfully voted against the ‘fit for human habitation’ amendment in 2016.

On Tuesday 8th February the now former housing minister MP Christopher Pincher was replaced after just two years in office.

The newly appointed housing minister at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities  is a certain Stuart Andrews MP for Pudsey since 2010.

Previous to his ‘crowning’ he was deputy chief whip and held parliamentary under-secretary roles in the Welsh Office and Ministry of Defence.

Andrews rents out a house that brings him in £10,000 a year income as stated in the MP’s register of interests.

The Mirror has uncovered that the new housing minister with fellow MPs in 2016 defeated an amendment in the Housing and Planning Bill to make all private rented homes "fit for human habitation", and was voted against - 312 (Ayes)  -  319 (Noes).

The ministers in 2016 stated the amendment would only cause more "unnecessary regulation and cost to landlords", and councils "already have strong and effective powers" to ensure landlord compliancy when their properties are classed as sub-standard, to carry out  the necessary repairs/maintenance etc.

There is little doubt that Andrews along with his counterpart housing minister Eddie Hughes, that despite the newly published Levelling up White Paper, will eventually turn their attentions to the considerably delayed reform of the sales and lettings side of estate agency.