<p><span>Rachel Maclean has been appointed as a minister of state at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), following the departure of housing minister Lucy Frazer who takes up a new post as culture secretary.</span></p> <p><span>Maclean’s responsibilities are yet to be confirmed but, according to the Home Builders Federation, as no other changes seem to have occurred in the rest of the ministerial team at DLUHC, it is likely she will be responsible for the housing and planning portfolio. This will make her the sixth housing minister to be appointed in a year.</span></p> <p><span>Maclean, MP for Redditch, has been an MP since the 2017 general election. She has held various junior positions, including at HM Treasury and the Department for Transport. Her appointment also makes her the 15^th housing minister since the Conservative party came into power in 2010.</span></p> <p><span>Before entering parliament, Maclean was co-chair of Andy Street’s successful campaign to become West Midlands’ mayor in 2017. She also founded a software company with her husband.</span></p> <p><span>HBF said that although Maclean had thus far been “relatively quiet” on housing issues in parliament, in a debate on levelling up, she stated: “It is right that we always seek to …