Theresa May, who is due to take over as Prime Minister today, has said that she will deal with the housing crisis.

Speaking in Birmingham, she said it was important to give people more opportunity: “It is why housing matters so much, and why we need to do far more to get more houses built.

“Because unless we deal with the housing deficit, we will see house prices keep on rising. Young people will find it even harder to afford their own home.

“The divide between those who inherit wealth and those who don’t will become more pronounced. And more and more of the country’s money will go into expensive housing instead of more productive investments that generate more economic growth.”

May has had little track record with housing and little known engagement with the property industry, although she was housing spokesperson from 1992 to 1994 during her time at the London Borough of Merton.

Judging by her Birmingham speech, it won’t be long before she dons the customary hi-viz and hard helmet and pops along to visit a new housing development somewhere near you.

We do know that she has voted against banning letting agent fees charged to tenants, and that she seems to have got over the mauling given to her by John Humphrys last year when she was memorably asked to explain the Government’s policy on extending Right to Buy to social tenants. The interview was described as a car crash and a dog’s dinner, and it was said that May was “floundering around” and hadn’t answered a single question in failing to defend a “shameful policy”.