Angela Rayner has been criticised over a plan to make it easier for councils to seize empty homes in England. Under the proposals, local authorities would be able to take control of properties after six months, down from the current two years. The home would remain privately owned, but councils could use an Empty Dwelling Management Order to take over the management and rent the property out for up to seven years.
Changes to empty property rules
Councils would no longer need to show evidence of problems such as anti-social behaviour before acting. The Government is also reportedly considering further changes to encourage councils to use the powers, including measures to protect authorities from the costs of taking on empty properties.
Conservative MP Esther McVey criticised the plans during an episode of the Daily Expresso podcast. She told host Steph Spyro that Labour is subjecting Britons to a mansion tax and an inheritance tax, adding: "They're taking everything off you."
MP's criticism of the policy
Ms McVey said: "The Conservative Party are going to help you get on the ladder, getting rid of the stamp duty, not having the inheritance tax on the home, getting rid of that mansion tax." She described the Empty Dwelling Management Order as "one of the most outrageous, authoritarian overreaches ever of a British government".
She said: "It is about confiscating your home. They will take it if they don't think anybody has been there for six months, and they will keep a hold of it for seven years. They can rent it out, get a new tenant in there. They will take the money from what they need and you might not get anything. They are going to send snoops round to see if your house has been empty. They are going to monitor it. They are going to take photographs of it, and they're going to see about your water and electricity usage. It is absolutely outrageous."
Government defends the plans
Ms McVey also noted that people's lives can be complicated, citing situations such as divorce, inheriting a house after a family death, or buying a property at auction and falling on hard times. She added: "The state should not be taking somebody's property. It is absolutely outrageous."
Ms Rayner said in September: "With so many children and families still in need of a safe and secure home, we can't sit by and allow 300,000 long-term empty dwellings to be left unused. That's why Labour in power is putting the tools in local leaders' hands to take over desperately needed derelict homes and put them back into use. We're reversing the Tories' damaging changes by supporting councils to intervene and use untapped powers to meet local housing need."
She added: "These changes will ensure councils can intervene earlier to prevent properties from falling into serious disrepair by accelerating their return to use and simplify the process to empower local authorities to act more decisively and with greater speed. But we won't stop there, and we'll explore further changes to protect local authorities from absorbing the costs they face in taking over empty homes."
