As part of yesterday’s government reshuffle Housing Minister Mark Prisk was asked to step down. His replacement has not yet been formally announced.
The decision will be confirmed this afternoon but junior minister Kris Hopkins is likely to be handed the housing brief.
Mr Prisk responded to the decision on twitter saying: “Been asked to step aside from Housing for a younger generation. Disappointing but it’s been a great eleven years on frontbencher.”
National Housing Federation chief executive David Orr said: “Mark Prisk is a rational and thoughtful man who as housing minister was doing his best in a difficult economic climate. Always willing to listen to housing associations around the country, he understood the problems we were trying to solve.
“One of his strengths was that he focused on working discreetly with housing associations to try and help the country find its way out of its crippling housing crisis.
"Whoever takes his place must have a similar drive and look to maintain the good relationships he made in the sector.”
Grainia Long, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH), said: "Mark Prisk’s tenure as housing minister has been marked by a commendable focus on delivery.
“Although progress on numbers of new homes has been disappointingly slow it is clear that the minister has been working hard to explore different delivery options and taking a personal interest in work to unlock stalled sites.”
