Michael Gove has asked the Competition and Markets Authority to consider undertaking a market study on housebuilding.
In letters released yesterday, the levelling up secretary expressed his desire for a review of the sector. “It feels timely that the CMA should be considering a market study,” he wrote. “In the event such a study progressed, the government would welcome recommendations for measures we, industry and the regulators could take to make sure the housing market is operating effectively.”
Gove wrote to Sarah Cardell, interim chief executive at the CMA, in November to express the government’s support for a review, stating: “The last housebuilding market study took place 14 years ago and since then there have been significant changes in both the market and the challenges facing the country as a whole – such as net zero, changes to the structure of the market following the financial crisis and changing demographic trends.”
