Michael Gove has once again been appointed as the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) in the UK, following a Cabinet reshuffle by new UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak.
Michael Gove will be taking the role over from Simon Clarke, who replaced Greg Clark in September. Greg Clark replaced Gove himself in July, making this the fourth appointment to Levelling Up Secretary this year.
The change has come as a result of Rishi Sunak becoming the Conservative party’s new leader, and consequent Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Sunak replaces Liz Truss who was appointed Prime Minister in September.
The role involves overseeing local government, planning and building safety across the UK.
With the Building Safety Act now having passed the legislative process, alongside new fire safety regulations confirmed for England starting in January 2023, the next steps in building safety will likely be to focus on the next stages of implementing the Act and continuing his predecessors’ efforts to solve the cladding crisis.
Gove had previously been vocal in his support for leaseholder protection against remediation costs on buildings as a result of the Building Safety crisis, while admitting that ‘mistakes had been made’ in the cladding crisis. In April this year, he announced an agreement between the Government and major developers to raise a £5 billion commitment to address the crisis. Recent Secretaries have reaffirmed the commitment to ensure leaseholders are protected from remediation costs.
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