Property sector figures have given Angela Rayner a cautious welcome as she returns to her old job as Housing Secretary.

Rayner, seen as the architect of the Renters’ Rights Act, previously had the role between July 2024 and September 2025 but resigned over her purchase of a flat in Hove and her decision to pay the lower ‘main residence’ Stamp Duty rate after putting her northern family home into a trust. Rayner was cleared by HMRC of deliberate wrongdoing or carelessness over her tax affairs and said at the time she deeply regretted the decision. She replaces Steve Reed who resigned yesterday.

“Andy Burnham’s vision of good growth in every postcode demands we build on the foundations we have already laid to bring the change we have promised,” says Rayner. “I look forward to returning to government with renewed drive and determination to put power back in people’s hands - and hope back in our hearts.”

ALEP (Association of Leasehold Enfranchisement Practitioners) believes Rayner returns with a known and visible commitment to leasehold reform, having given evidence before the select committee on the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill and having been in post at the Bill’s inception.

Policy

“While we await the broader policy objectives of the new cabinet, this does seem to mean ‘business as usual’ as regards leasehold reform,” says director Mark Chick.

The Prime Minister has also kept Matthew Pennycook (pictured left) on as housing minister, who Chick says has detailed understanding of the complexities of leasehold law and was committed to getting reform right.

“Retaining a minister who understands that work should help preserve momentum and reduce the risk of unworkable or rushed legislation.”

Pennycook’s retention sends a positive signal about the priority being given to housing and planning reform at the heart of government, believes Colin Brown, head of planning & development at letting chain Carter Jonas. “With the UK continuing to face a significant housing shortage, sustained ministerial leadership will be essential if meaningful progress is to be made on increasing housing supply and accelerating delivery.”

Bonus

Vanessa Hale, chief executive at Real Estate:UK, (pictured right) reckons the fact new Chancellor John Healey is a former housing minister is an added bonus, while she also welcomes the return of Rayner, with whom the group worked very productively in her previous stint. “We look forward to her hitting the ground running and picking up the dialogue about how we get homes built and breathe life back into communities in conjunction with Matthew Pennycook,” says Hale.

However, she adds: “Regardless of the new team to confront them, the same challenges remain both for the economy and for real estate in particular: the need to grow the economy through sustained investment, both public and private, in those areas most likely to deliver growth, addressing the development viability challenges stymying new homes and commercial space, generating consumer and occupier confidence, and not introducing new policy or legislation liable to have a detrimental impact upon the industry. In this we wish them well.”

NRLA

The NRLA’s chief executive Ben Beadle says: “We urge the Housing Secretary to focus on improving enforcement to root out the minority of rogue and criminal landlords undermining the reputation of the responsible majority. In parallel, ministers must also repair the broken justice system to ensure the Renters’ Rights Act can be implemented effectively.

"Underpinning all of this is a need to rule out any form of rent control. As Angela Rayner herself and the cross-party Housing Select Committee have all warned, rent controls would undermine the supply of the homes to rent so many tenants urgently need.”

‍

‍