Shapps left his role to take up a position as co-chairman of the Conservative party last week and was replaced by Mark Prisk, who moved from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
Dromey, speaking in a House of Commons debate said that Shapps had spent far too much of his time on social networking sites rather than forming policy that would allow new homes to be built.
Speaking about Shapps, he said: “It turns out that he took it on himself to build, and with a dedication and passion that many would find hard to understand; he hid it, but he was beavering away, busy building – building up his following on Twitter.
“I hope that the new Minister for Housing will spend his time dedicating his full attention to the job. I advise him not to be obsessed with sending out press statements, as his predecessor was.
“If there were a new home for every press release from the last Minister for Housing, there would be no housing crisis.”
Dromey went on to say that the new minister also needed to tackle rising rents and allow more young people to get onto the housing ladder.
“The new Minister for Housing is taking on a position of huge responsibility and national importance. Every Member knows the scale of the housing crisis and will have stories from their own constituency.
“I have never-ending queues of heart-breaking cases of young couples paying a fortune in the privately-rented sector, often in sub-standard accommodation, desperate to get a mortgage, which, if they could get it, would mean that they would pay less to buy a home. But they cannot get a mortgage.”
