James Brokenshire has been appointed new secretary of state for housing, communities and local government after Sajid Javid was named as the new home secretary.

Javid was chosen to replace Amber Rudd who resigned last night after misleading MPs on deportation targets.

Mr Brokenshire was the former minister for Northern Ireland but resigned in January after being diagnosed with early stage lung cancer.

Honoured to have been asked by the Prime Minister to serve as Secretary of State at the Ministry of Housing Communities & Local Government. Looking forward to taking the Government’s agenda forward especially on building the homes our country needs. @mhclg

— James Brokenshire (@JBrokenshire) April 30, 2018

Cllr John Fuller, chairman of the District Councils’ Network, said: 'We congratulate James Brokenshire on this appointment and look forward to building a relationship with the new minister to further improve lives and build stronger economies for the people we serve, in a geography they can recognise and relate to.'

Terrie Alafat, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing, praised Javid for his achievements in the role: ‘During his time in the role housing has become a top domestic priority for the government and we’ve seen an important shift in the narrative on housing - including a move to a more balanced view of the response we need to solve our housing crisis.’

Melanie Leech, chief executive of the British Property Federation, said: ‘While it is disappointing to lose Sajid Javid from housing, we welcome James Brokenshire and look forward to working with him to drive forward the government’s multi-tenure approach to new housing delivery and the policy changes to the National Planning Policy Framework.’