Industry veteran Harry Hill has taken to Twitter to describe the new housing minister’s appointment as ‘crass’.

Hill, who founded Countrywide and Rightmove and is currently a non-executive director of Hunters, said on Twitter of little-known Alok Sharma’s appointment: “Very sad to see that the new minister for housing appears to have absolutely no suitable experience or expertise for the job. Crass!”

Hill added that he was sure Sharma was a “very nice chap” because “most accountants are”.

Sharma is Tory MP for Reading West, is a chartered accountant and banker by background. His achievements include leading a campaign against a 750 new housing scheme within his constituency.

His appointment as housing minister came 48 hours before the fire catastrophe at Grenfell Tower.

Despite his perceived lack of experience and low profile in the disaster, Sharma yesterday met industry representatives to discuss external cladding systems used on some social housing building schemes.