Hill on the houses

Keith Hill, the newly appointed housing and planning minister, leaps up to greet me and – flashing a toothy grin – reads out that day's political sketch by Simon Hoggart in the Guardian, in which he gets a namecheck. "I like Mr Hill enormously," the minister reads. "He is honest and funny and is even on speaking terms with the English language. The fact that he looks like a cross between Keith Harris and his puppet Orville is not in any way his fault."

At the last line Hill rocks back in his seat, throws his head back and lets out a deep, booming laugh. A politician with a sense of self-irony? Clearly this is no prickly Lord Rooker – the housing minister who had his role split in two in the June reshuffle to concentrate on the Communities Plan – but remember, Hill's previous job was deputy chief whip. He describes his two years in that role as an "extremely stimulating experience". The vote on war in Iraq was, he says cagily, "intensive".

There is a definite sense of the iron fist in the velvet glove about the Leicester-born MP for Streatham, south London. Not for Hill the "brutalist" approach he says has been the mark of many of his predecessors in the whips' office. He tried to persuade Labour MPs to see things his way, and this method of building relationships is one he intends to carry over into his new role.

So, will it be all cosy chats beneath the cubist and surrealist artworks – "My favourite artist is Matisse, I went to see the Matisse Picasso exhibition three times" – that adorn the walls of Hill's office at 26 Whitehall? Not likely. "The best part of being a whip was winning," he says. "I will engage in dialogues but ultimately it will be about delivery." That kind of talk is sure to be music to the ears of deputy prime minister John Prescott.

The opposing characters of the two housing ministers, Rooker and Hill, are proving to be the perfect combination, according to a civil servant at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister who has experienced first-hand Hill's eagerness to get to grips with his new post. A case of yin and yang, if you like. "Hill is very competent and everyone here is very pleased at his appointment," says the insider. "He is very different to Lord Rooker, but the ideal ministerial team needs to have different strengths. Keith is an enthusiast while Jeff is more of a details man. Keith has been a strong performer in his previous positions and this is undoubtedly a promotion for him. What has struck everyone is how amazingly cheerful he is all the time."

Hill, who will celebrate his 60th birthday on Sunday, started his career as a political researcher after gaining a degree in politics, philosophy and economics at Oxford in 1965. Jobs as a politics lecturer in Glasgow and RMT union rep followed until he was elected MP for Streatham in 1992. He has never learned to drive a car – his union role meant that "it seemed the wrong thing to do, I got the train instead" – which made his time as a junior transport minister slightly awkward, he says, seeing the funny side as ever.

He proudly describes himself as a socialist who is fond of change, a characteristic that is manifested when our conversation turns to one of the thorniest housing issues of the moment: the payment of social housing grant to private developers. "We need all the time to be looking at new ways of doing things and new ways of delivery," says Hill. "If we think it's a good idea, then we'll consider putting it into the housing bill for the next session.

There had been a murder the night before and the blood was still on the ground. It was an awful place but with great prospects. That is what really excites me

"I believe the prime minister when he says 'we are at our best when we are at our boldest'. I think you have to innovate and look at more ideas. I don't think registered social landlords should be too defensive about this. Where they're performing well, there is a vital and central role for them. But if we can do deals with private developers I think we need to experiment, see what the possibilities are and push the boat out a bit."

He says this is most relevant in an area he describes as a "visionary project" – the Thames Gateway. He stresses the importance of working with private developers because "they build around four-fifths of all housing". In his role as minister for London – he also has charge of the Millennium Dome – he chaired the first meeting of the London Thames Gateway Strategic Board two weeks ago. As a result he has pledged, as a priority, to drive forward the introduction of the London urban development corporation – something that was promised in the Communities Plan but has since been bogged down in the debate over its powers.

In step with his new boss John Prescott, Hill believes that modern construction techniques have a principal role to play in delivering more homes more quickly. "If you look at the figures for the sorts of costs that are incurred by traditional builders, you would think there ought to be some advantages [in using modern techniques]. Include the costs of accidents, injuries and errors in the construction industry – which off-site manufacture ought to be able to avoid – then it is a very good idea."

Hill communication
Hill says he relishes the chance to do something at a policy level about issues such as overcrowded housing and a "serious lack of new supply", which he says are always top of constituents' lists of complaints.

There's no missing his enthusiasm for the job on a walkabout in Brixton, south London, later that day. One minute he is striding around Metropolitan Housing Trust's newly refurbished Moorlands estate, shaking hands with all and sundry and getting deeply involved in a discussion about drug dealers and antisocial behaviour; the next he is posing for the cameras with a group of tenants, proudly sporting a "Brixton is home" T-shirt pulled over his shirt and tie. He certainly knows how to work a crowd; all he's missing is a baby to kiss. In a brief speech about the nationwide tour he is beginning, during which he will visit a number of regeneration schemes, the crowd cheers when he says being on home territory – his constituency covers half of Brixton – is a great start.

"What being here really means to me is a chance to see the whole circle – the before and after if you like," he says afterwards.

It does seem to me that an awful lot of policy work has been done already and now we’re at the implementation stage. I actually think that’s what I’m best at

"I was at the Tollington Estate in north London the other day and there was ample evidence that it was a breeding ground for criminals. There had been a double murder the night before and the blood was still on the ground. It was an awful place but with great prospects and that is what really excites me."

Yet despite his "man of the people" approach, Hill describes himself as "a bit high-brow" in his hobbies. He attends classical music concerts at the Wigmore Hall; his website professes an interest in the "contemporary European novel" and he says he has a "layperson's interest in architecture". "My favourite building is Exeter Cathedral; I'm very interested in churches, and I do rather like the House of Commons, actually. I like Richard Rogers' stuff – the Lloyds building and the Pompidou centre. Also, I rather like the erotic gherkin [the tower designed by Lord Foster that is nearing completion in the City of London]."

Hill says his three main challenges in the job will be boosting housing supply; meeting the decent homes target by 2010; and tackling antisocial behaviour. In the mean time, he has already laid his cards on the table over the planning system: speaking in the Commons last Thursday, he outlined his determination to carry through the government's threat to intervene in planning authorities that failed to meet performance targets for processing applications on time.

Target practice
The planning aim, like the decent homes standard, is one of the targets enshrined in the ODPM's manifesto. Also like the decent homes standard, it is at risk of not being achieved by its target date, 2006. Figures published earlier this month revealed the extent of the problem, with a large number of authorities lagging badly behind the best performers and dragging the average performance way below government targets for handling major, minor and household planning applications (HT 4 July, page 12).

"Where we intervene in a planning authority we will carry it through with determination and vigour," promises Hill. "Any authority at risk of not meeting the targets would be liable to intervention. No one is expecting those failing authorities to change overnight, but we expect them to be making steps in the right direction.

We are already looking closely at authorities that are not."

He declines to reveal which authorities he is talking about, but a look at the ODPM's latest figures shows the worst culprits are Worcester, South Bedfordshire and East Northamptonshire.