Revolving doors are a common comedy device for the ins and outs of a funny take on life.

Not so funny is the revolving door for housing ministers that has seen six appointees to the post in the last year. The latest, Rachel Maclean, joined the team at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities after her predecessor, Lucy Frazer, was “elevated” to cover culture, media, and sport.

Quite why housing that affects us all is seen as a lesser brief than entertainment is beyond me. Maybe it’s because London-based politicians want to attend performances so memorable they are able to blot out the homeless assembled in theatre doorways.

One industry wag pointed out that it was easier to become housing minister than it was to acquire a home and that’s not as funny as it’s supposed to be. Housing as a ministerial brief has long been neglected, just a stepping stone to higher things. No matter how ambitious Frazer was, her short tenure as housing minister of about three months was not long enough to do anything that would make an impact. In fact as she was the 14^th incumbent in a mere 12 years; it’s hard to see how anyone who has occupied the desk has done anything worthwhile.

Maclean does not appear to have a background in housing. She is described as a technology entrepreneur after founding a publishing company with her husband, and later her own software firm. Let’s hope that entrepreneurial expertise sees her making her mark and not merely waiting for an opportunity to go further up the greasy political pole.

Time will tell, but it’s not time that those desperately seeking a home to live in have to squander as a luxury. It’s time to get a grip and for Government to take the topic seriously.

Colin Shairp,

Director, Fine and Country Southern Hampshire and Town and Country Southern estate agencies, Drayton.<