0:05 AM, 4th September 2024, About An hour ago
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Angela Rayner is reportedly considering abolishing the controversial Right to Buy scheme, just months after it was revealed she personally profited from it.
The Daily Telegraph has learned that the deputy Prime Minister and housing secretary, who sold her former council home in Stockport for a profit of £48,500 after purchasing it at a discounted rate through Right to Buy, is now weighing the option of ending the scheme for new council homes.
In Parliament, Ms Rayner also refused to rule out scrapping the single person discount of 25% for council tax.
That could affect all single renters from young people to pensioners who have also lost their winter fuel payment of £300 per year.
She also told MPs that there are no plans for increasing council tax in England.
The Telegraph says that the decision to end Right to Buy comes as more than 100 local authorities called for the scheme to be scrapped.
A report commissioned by Southwark Council found that the scheme has cost councils £2.2 billion and exacerbated housing shortages.
Right to Buy was introduced by Margaret Thatcher which allows council tenants to buy their homes at a discount of up to 70%.
While it enabled lots of council tenants to become homeowners, it has also lead to a drop in council housing stock.
Ms Rayner used a 25% discount to buy her former council house in Stockport for £79,000 via the Right to Buy scheme in 2007.
Controversially, she later sold it and pocketed £48,500.
According to government data, the Right to Buy scheme has seen 26,000 homes being sold on average every year.
Discounts can be as high as £75,000 outside of London, and £100,000 in London.
The Telegraph reports that the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, has refused to rule out abolishing Right to Buy for newly built council homes in the October Budget.
A spokesman said: “We are facing the most acute housing crisis in living memory and that is why we are working at pace to reverse the continued decline in the number of social rent homes.”
An analysis by the i newspaper reveals that in some areas of England, single people could lose more than £600 if the council tax discount is binned.
By losing the 25% discount, single parents and pensioners who are widowed will be among those to lose out.
When questioned in the Commons on Monday, Ms Rayner would not commit to maintaining it.
That’s when Kemi Badenoch, the shadow communities and local secretary, told MPs: “It’s been reported that the Secretary of State is being lobbied to increase council tax and remove discounts like the single occupant discount.
“Will she take this opportunity to reassure the House that the Government has no plans to increase council tax as they assured us before the election?”
Ms Rayner replied: “Yes.”
