Angela Rayner today rejected claims of ‘hypocrisy’ after she was revealed to have made a £48,500 profit on her ex-council house thanks to the right-to-buy policy she now wants to reform.
The Labour deputy leader issued a series of posts on social media to push back at allegations she wants to ‘pull up the ladder’ to make it harder for other social housing tenants to benefit in the same way she did.
‘Being able to buy my council house back in 2007 was a proud moment for me,’ she wrote. ‘I worked hard, saved and bought it by the book. I’m not ashamed.
‘But I am angry that the Tories have since put the dream of a secure home out of reach for so many others.’
Aim of Labour’s Policy
Ms Rayner stated that Labour’s policy was to ‘review the unfair additional market discounts of up to 60 per cent’ on council home purchases following Tory changes to the policy in 2012.
She stressed this was introduced ‘long after’ she was able to exercise the right to buy herself at a 25 per cent discount under the old system, posting: ‘That’s not hypocrisy, it’s the right thing to do.
Ms Rayner, who is also shadow housing secretary, has previously spoken out against those who get ‘loads and loads of discount’ when purchasing their properties.
Who Introduced Right-to-buy Policy?
The right-to-buy policy was first introduced by Margaret Thatcher and has long despised by parts of the Left.
Ms Rayner bought her own former council house in Stockport, Greater Manchester, with a 25 per cent discount in 2007 – making the five-figure profit when she sold it at the market rate eight years later.
The purchase is revealed in a new book by Lord Ashcroft, which will be serialised exclusively on Sunday next month.
The volume, titled ‘Red Queen? The Unauthorised Biography Of Angela Rayner’, raises other questions about the outspoken MP’s living arrangements.
Official documents seen by this newspaper show that she was registered on the electoral roll at the ex-council house in Vicarage Road for five years after she married Mark Rayner in 2010.
Despite them being newlyweds, her husband was listed elsewhere – a house in Lowndes Lane, just over a mile away, which had also been bought under the right-to-buy scheme.
The Mystery About The Matter
More mysteriously, when Ms Rayner re-registered the births of her two youngest children that same year, she gave her address as Lowndes Lane. It is not clear, therefore, where she was living after her marriage.
The confusion is significant because under electoral rules, voters are expected to register at their permanent home address. Breaches of the rules can lead to a prison sentence.
Also, anyone buying a right-to-buy property usually signs a form confirming that it is their only or principal home, to avoid the properties being used by profiteering private landlords.
Neighbours of both properties claimed Ms Rayner moved out of Vicarage Road in 2009 and into Lowndes Lane.
Details of Her ‘Hit-back’
In her social media posts Sunday morning, Ms Rayner stressed that Labour believes those living in council houses should have the chance to buy the social home they rent ‘for a reasonable discount’.
‘The problem with the right to buy was never ordinary people’s dreams of owning their own home – it was that council housing stock was sold off and then not replaced,’ she added.
‘It’s helped fuel the housing crisis. That’s why a Labour Government will deliver the biggest boost to affordable, social and council housing for a generation.
‘I want others to have the opportunity for a secure home that I had.’
Ms Rayner also went on the attack against Lord Ashcroft, saying he and ‘his friends not only take an unhealthy interest in my family – but want to kick down at people like me who graft hard in tough circumstances to get on in life. I won’t let them.’
Saturday night, a Labour spokesman said that the council house purchase had been ‘done by the book’ – and also hit out at ‘Belize-based Tory billionaire Lord Ashcroft’ for taking ‘an unhealthy interest in Angela’s family’.
The spokesman said: ‘Angela, who had an older child from a previous relationship, and her husband maintained their existing residences before moving into their shared marital home.
‘Their son was born just 23 weeks into her pregnancy and spent eight months in intensive care, requiring ongoing support from a wide network of friends and family, including Angela’s brother… Beyond the smears, there is no suggestion any rules have been broken.’
Right-to-buy was one of the flagship policies of Mrs Thatcher’s Government, boosting home ownership by allowing council tenants to purchase the property they rented for a generous discount depending on how long they had lived there.
Tenants must repay some of the discount if they sell within five years – a penalty Ms Rayner avoided by waiting eight years.
