Malthouse was housing minister between July 2018 and July 2019, and also held education, justice and pensions minister roles during his time in government.

Speaking on the Federation of Master Builders’ (FMB) ‘Build up from the Basement’ podcast, the former minister warned that capacity constraints and market disruption posed serious risks to the government’s 1.5 million housing target.

"They're going to undershoot massively,” said Malthouse.

“They're facing the same constraints or possibly even worse than we did."

Here, the MP flagged the decline in SME builders since the 2008 financial crisis with these previously providing a significant number of houses.

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Malthouse added: "Before then 50% of or over 50% of the houses were built by small builders, afterwards that collapsed to below 20% and it never really came back."

Elsewhere, the former housing minister argued that changes were needed at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to transition from a focus on policy to results.

Malthouse also took exception with the quality of housing in the UK, with compromises being sought just to push through planning permission stages.

"I'm afraid that there is a sort of conspiracy of cr*p between the housing industry and the planning system" where ‘levelling down takes place’ to avoid disputes, producing "ubiquitous cr*p across the country that has no sense of place or vernacular,” said Malthouse.

Instead, Malthouse gave the argument that local authorities need to realise houses are being built “regardless” and that conversations instead should focus on quality and appearance.

His appearance on the podcast was welcomed by FMB CEO Brian Berry.

"We thank him for his candid reflections and his continued advocacy for a construction sector that not only encourages more people to consider it as a career but also delivers homes that we can be proud of,” said Brian.

“This episode is incredibly insightful and interesting, well worth a listen!"