Ministers signalled a double assault on aspiration yesterday, with a clampdown on the Right to Buy and a Budget raid on high earners.
Whitehall sources said Angela Rayner is poised to slash discounts for council house tenants looking to buy their home, despite benefiting from the scheme herself.
And ministers opened the door to a fresh raid on the better off by refusing to say whether those earning more than £100,000 are covered by Labour‘s pledge to avoid tax rises on ‘working people’ in next week’s Budget.
Before entering Parliament, Ms Rayner made use of Margaret Thatcher‘s flagship Right to Buy scheme to purchase her council house in Stockport at a discount. She sold it eight years later at a profit of £48,000.
But, in a move that risks charges of hypocrisy, Ms Rayner is now set to cut the discount available to social housing tenants from a maximum of 70 per cent to just 25 per cent. Tenants will also have to have lived in the homes for up to a decade before gaining the right to buy – more than treble the current three-year limit.
Whitehall sources said Angela Rayner is poised to slash discounts for council house tenants looking to buy their home, despite benefiting from the scheme herself
The proposals are set to be included in a new £1 billion drive to boost council housing, which is set to be given the green light at the Budget (Pictured, Chancellor Rachel Reeves)Â
And Ms Rayner is considering suspending the Right to Buy altogether for newly built council homes.
The moves will cost those seeking to get on the housing ladder tens of thousands of pounds – and force many to stay renting.
But Ms Rayner is expected to argue the step is needed to stem the loss of social housing, as she seeks to launch a ‘council house revolution’.
The proposals are set to be included in a new £1 billion drive to boost council housing, which is set to be given the green light at the Budget.
Supporters of the popular Right to Buy scheme argue it has been vital for aspiring families looking to get on the housing ladder. Ms Rayner said this year that her own home purchase had been ‘so important to me’ as she battled to escape a tough start in life.
But critics warn it depletes the social housing stock for others.
Meanwhile, ministers refused to rule out hitting the better off with higher taxes.
After health secretary Wes Streeting warned at the weekend that the government was focused on helping ‘people who are on lower or middle incomes’, care minister Stephen Kinnock repeatedly to rule out higher taxes on those earning more than £100,000 a year.
Supporters of the popular Right to Buy scheme argue it has been vital for aspiring families looking to get on the housing ladder (file image)Â
Before entering Parliament, Ms Rayner made use of Margaret Thatcher ‘s flagship Right to Buy schemeÂ
Labour has pledged it will not raise taxes on ‘working people’. But, during an uncomfortable interview on Sky News, Mr Kinnock repeatedly refused to say whether those on salaries of more than £100,000 are covered by the pledge.
Those on salaries of £100,000 already face marginal tax rates of 62 per cent. But Mr Kinnock refused six times to rule out hitting them with further taxes, saying that the definition of ‘working people’ had to be ‘taken in the round.’
Downing Street declined to offer a definition. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman suggested that high earners would not face a direct rise in income tax but did not rule out other changes which might hit them.
He told reporters: ‘If you look at the manifesto language, it talks about the Government not increasing taxes on working people which is why we will not increase National Insurance, the basic, higher or additional rates of income tax, or VAT.’
During the election campaign, Sir Keir Starmer suggested that his definition did not cover those with savings, saying: ‘When I say working people, it is people who earn their living, rely on our services and don’t really have the ability to write a cheque when they get into trouble.’
