A retirement village operator has slammed the “revolving door” of housing ministers, after Lee Rowley was appointed 16th housing minister since 2010.

Rowley briefly held the post in 2022, before being replaced by Lucy Frazer after two months. He replaces Rachel Maclean, who had held the role for nine months.

Nick Sanderson, chief executive of retirement village provider and operator Audley Group, said: “The appointment of David Cameron to the Cabinet might garner the headlines, but it shouldn’t detract from revolving door that is the UK’s housing minister.”

He added: “The housing market needs reform, and that’s difficult to achieve without any kind of stability. Lack of in-depth knowledge about the housing market leads to knee jerk decisions to increase housing supply and focus on first time buyers, rather than holistic possibilities that increase supply and flow within the market.”

Michael Voges, chief executive of ARCO, the membership body for charity/not-for-profit and private operators of Integrated Retirement Communities, urged Rowley to work closely with the Older People’s Housing Task Force. “Having worked with him in this role before, we look forward to working with Lee Rowley again following his appointment as housing minister,” he said. “Bringing together different Whitehall departments to launch the Older People’s Housing Task Force showed the government was serious about tackling the challenges of the sector and unlocking its potential to transform lives – in particular, by improving options for those on middle-incomes.”

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