Housing minister Kit Malthouse claimed Roger Scruton’s controversial beautiful homes commission will “heal the scar tissue” that has built up between traditionalists and modernists.

He claimed the government wanted to “let architects rip” rather than “poking them with a stick”, and said there was room for all styles in the drive to build 300,000 homes a year.

Malthouse, speaking at Policy Exchange, the think tank that inspired the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission, swung between trying to mollify architects and accusing them of being defensive and unwilling to design what the public want.

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