Five former housing ministers are among the 77 Conservative MPs standing down at the next election, leaving behind a mixed legacy.

Along with Michael Gove, colleagues Paul Scully, Brandon Lewis, Alok Sharma, Dominic Raab and Sajid Javid – all previously on the merry-go-round of ministers populating the government’s housing department - are quitting.

Apart from Gove, Lewis (July 2014 to July 2016) seems to have made the most impact on the PRS.

He introduced measures to help more people buy their own home and get houses built faster through the Housing and Planning Act and brought in more powers for local councils to tackle rogue landlords and access data held by the Tenancy Deposit Protection schemes. He also launched a new database of rogue landlords and letting agents.

Lewis announced new rules requiring letting agents to join a redress scheme, published a new model tenancy agreement and a new code of practice for landlords and letting agents. He also passed a law requiring landlords to install smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in their properties.

Reforms

Sajid Javid (July 2016 to April 2018) brought in measures to reduce the number of people sleeping rough through the Homelessness Reduction Act as well as new planning reforms in a major overhaul of the National Planning Policy Framework to help planners, developers and councils build more homes, more quickly.

Under Alok Sharma (June 2017 to January 2018), the government increased fines for dodgy landlords alongside the introduction of mandatory licences for properties with five or more tenants. Sharma also took some flak for the government’s slow response to the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

A short-lived Dominic Raab (January 2018 to July 2018) announced very little except a review of carbon monoxide monitors and new money to help speed up planning decisions, while Paul Scully (July to October 2022), who also had a previous stint in the role, barely discussed housing in his parliamentary contributions.

A special mention goes to former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng who increased the cost of many landlords’ mortgages due to his infamous ‘mini budget’ which included £45 billion worth of unfunded tax cuts.