In the July government reshuffle both Nick Boles, previously responsible for planning, and Kris Hopkins, previously responsible for housing, have moved on to be replaced by Brandon Lewis who, as Minister of State, will cover both briefs.
Brandon Lewis is a barrister and company director and also served five years as Leader of Brentwood Borough Council. He is MP for Great Yarmouth. According to 24dashnews he is close political ally of Eric Pickles so much so that, according to the site, "in 2009, Lewis and Pickles formed an unlikely broadcasting double act. ‘The Eric and Brandon Show’ aired on obscure Essex radio station Phoenix FM...".
As local government minister in 2012 he was centrally involved in the changes to council tax exemptions and the introduction of the Empty Homes Premium and defended the premium against attack by other Conservative MPs (eg David Morris MP). Subsequently as minister with responsibility for high streets he will have had to deal with the issue of empty commercial property and was also involved in the Transformation Fund designed to promoste shared services and other forms of modernisation in local government.
The government reshuffle is of Conservative ministers only, so Stephen Williams role as Undersecretary with responsibility for empty homes is not affected. But whereas Kris Hopkins, with responsiblity for housing, was on the same level as Stephen Williams and therefore could have had no responsiblity for him, Brandon Lewis is clearly a more senior Minister. In the runup to the elections, the political dimension of the government actions on empty homes will start to assume more significance. There might therefore be more interaction between the two.
Brief details about Brandon Lewis can be found on the gov.uk site here or on his own website here.