Rayner’s ‘authoritarian plot’ to send snoops to Brits’ homes – ‘outrageous’

Angela Rayner has been slammed over a plot to more easily seize Brits’ empty houses. Labour is giving councils the power to grab properties after six months, down from two years. The home will still be privately owned, but local authorities can take control through an Empty Dwelling Management Order. This allows officials to take over the property’s management and rent it out for up to seven years. In addition, councils will no longer have to show evidence of problems like anti-social behavior.

It is reported that the Government is also weighing up more tweaks designed to make councils more likely to use the powers, such as changes to guard authorities against the costs of taking on empty properties. Conservative MP Esther McVey tore into the plans during the latest episode of our podcast, the Daily Expresso.

She told host Steph Spyro that Labour are subjecting Brits to a mansion tax and an inheritance tax — “they’re taking everything off you”. “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,” Ms McVey added.

“But I think there was one of the worst things that came out at the Labour Party conference, and it sort of went by without people really getting up in arms, and that was Angela Rayner’s policy for the Empty Dwelling Management Order. And I can tell you that that is one of the most outrageous, authoritarian overreaches ever of a British government.

“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.”

Ms McVey also said: “Look, people’s lives are messy. People’s lives are complicated. It could be that you’re going through a divorce. It could be that a member of your family has died and handed over a house to you.

“It could be that you thought, ‘Oh, I’ll buy a house from auction. I’ll do it up.’ You fell on hard times. So life is complicated.” She added: “People’s 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.

“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.”