My hon. Friend is absolutely right. As Housing Minister, he made a major contribution to the revival in house building that was necessary after the crash that took place under the previous Labour Government. We have seen, over the past five years, house building recover from the record lows of the previous decade, but, as this Bill makes it clear, these are the first steps away from a much longer record over successive Parliaments. Indeed, the connection between supply, affordability and ownership is obvious to all, and yet for decades successive Parliaments and Governments failed to find a lasting solution not because they did nothing, but often because they failed to tackle the underlying issues.
In the previous Parliament, the Government’s focus was on recovery from the worst housing crash since the second world war, but in this Parliament, our focus has shifted from rescue to reform. Though wide-ranging in scope, the Bill does not represent the entirety of what needs to be done. As the Chancellor made clear in the autumn statement and as the Prime Minister said last week, the Government are committed to a comprehensive and ongoing programme of reform, addressing the whole of the problem and not just part of it. This Bill is of central importance to the overall strategy.