An independent housing ministry should be set up to set a long-term strategy on building more homes, Nigel Terrington has said.

Speaking at the Instinctif Partners Great Housing Debate, Terrington, chief executive of specialist lender Paragon, said housing is about long-term planning, but the agenda is unfortunately set by politicians with a shorter-term horizon.

He said: “Housing is a 20- to 30-year view, unfortunately controlled by politicians with at best a five-year horizon. Decisions tend to be geared towards the next election.”

He said an independent housing ministry should be established, similar to the way the Bank of England was made independent in 1997 to set interest rates.

He added: “It could stand outside the Government and operate with a 20- to 30-year horizon that protected the countryside and equally directed resources and committed to a longer-term strategy which cannot be done under a current structure.”

Fellow panellist John Tutte of builder Redrow said more support was needed for smaller home builders to increase the building of homes.