Rayner quizzed ahead of changes to stamp duty discounts
The Deputy Prime Minister was being pressed by Conservative shadow housing secretary Kevin Hollinrake.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has faced questions about whether she is “pulling up the housing ladder behind her” ahead of changes to stamp duty discounts.
Stamp duty which home buyers pay in England and Northern Ireland was temporarily cut in 2022 for first-time buyers, covering the first £425,000 of house purchase prices.
But this “nil rate” band for first-time buyers will only apply to the first £300,000 of house purchases from April, with other buyers seeing a reduction from £250,000 to £125,000.
“Both now scrapped.
“Is the Secretary of State pulling up the housing ladder behind her?”
Ms Rayner, who is also the Housing Secretary, said: “It’s staggering that the shadow secretary of state said that, after so many people now can’t get housing because his of government (which) failed to meet their housing targets.
Mr Hollinrake said in a follow-up question: “The manifesto promised to preserve the green belt and then grey belt came along which is supposed to be a few garage forecourts.
“Now it turns out that grey belt will mean 640 square miles of green belt are built upon – the size of Surrey. Is this simply another broken promise?”
The Deputy Prime Minister said: “Under the Tories, the number of homes approved on greenfield land increased nearly 10-fold since 2009.
Ms Rayner also took questions at the despatch box about local elections to some English local authorities – across East Sussex, West Sussex, Essex and Thurrock, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Norfolk, Suffolk and Surrey.
Polls due on May 1 in these areas will not take place, according to the Government’s plans, with votes intended in future years after a reorganisation of town halls.
Mr Hollinrake said: “On February 5 the Deputy Prime Minister stated that we are postponing elections for one year from May 2025 to May 2026 but the minister on February 17 in a written parliamentary question said new unitary government will be established or go live in 2027 or 2028.
Mr McMahon replied: “I can start off by confirming absolutely that the Deputy Prime Minister did not mislead the house and the Opposition could do well without trying to muddy the waters, because they know more than anybody what local government reorganisation means.
“Why? Because in the last few years when they were in government, they postponed 17 sets of elections to allow reorganisation to take place.”
He added: “There is nobody going to benefit, whether it’s council leaders in Conservative councils who have asked for this, or members of the public, if we confuse the matter more than it needs to be.”
