When Theresa May called the snap General Election, she expected the campaign to focus on Brexit but, according to sources close to Number 10, she was wrong. What she found on the doorstep was an electorate keen to talk about housing.

Since then, the housing crisis has risen rapidly up the agenda for the Conservatives – with the reshuffle rebranding the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) to become the new Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).