Corporations toughest critic Andrew Bennett MP to retire

A spokeswoman for the Labour MP for Denton & Reddish said he was standing down to “spend more time with his family”.

Bennett, 66, has chaired the ODPM committee for three years. He first voiced his concerns about the corporation in July 2002, when he said it had “not been an effective regulator”.

“It [the corporation] has allowed housing associations to build up substantial assets and it has failed to inspect the stock transfer companies with enough vigour,” he said at the time.

Although the corporation said Bennett’s comments had “no foundation in fact”, it became the subject of an investigation by the committee in February 2004.

Its report, published in June last year, concluded that the corporation should reconsider its decision to pay social housing grant to developers, and said there was no evidence that the corporation’s plans to channel 80% of funding through elite development partners would be more cost-effective. The report also raised doubts about the cost-effectiveness of modern methods of construction.

Despite upsetting the Housing Corporation, Bennett is credited with playing a key role in housing market renewal.

Mike Gahagan, chair of pathfinder Transform South Yorkshire, said: “He’s been pretty antagonistic towards the Housing Corporation but I’ve always found his chairing very fair. The committee’s first report into empty homes led indirectly to the creation of the housing market renewal fund.”

A Shelter spokesman said: “He’s been one of very few MPs who have consistently stood up for the rights of Gypsies and Travellers and his willingness to do this will be sorely missed.”