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UK: Angela Rayner has been appointed housing secretary for a second time, as new prime minister Andy Burnham has selected his first cabinet.
Rayner resigned from the role last year over failing to pay enough stamp duty on a holiday home and breaking the ministerial code.
She had held the post from July 2024 until she resigned in September 2025 following the discovery that she had underpaid stamp duty on an apartment in Hove. She settled with HMRC in May of this year without having to pay a penalty, which would have been necessary if she had deliberately or carelessly failed to pay the tax.
Rayner replaces Steve Reed as secretary of state, and is the seventh appointment to the post in five years.
Lawrence Turner, director at planning consultancy Boyer, said: “Angela Rayner’s return provides some welcome continuity at an important point for the planning system. The direction of planning reform has largely been established, but the immediate challenge is now delivery and translating policy and legislative reform into adopted local plans and homes on the ground. That will require sustained political leadership, properly resourced local planning authorities and a pragmatic response to the viability challenges, increased build costs and infrastructure constraints affecting the development industry. We hope the new Secretary of State will maintain momentum and provide clarity and stability for local authorities, communities and developers to kick start investment.”
The PM has also kept Matthew Pennycook on as housing minister, while former housing minister John Healey becomes Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Colin Brown, head of planning & development at Carter Jonas, said: “It is encouraging to see Matthew Pennycook MP retained as Minister of State at MHCLG and, importantly, attending Cabinet meetings. This sends a positive signal about the priority being given to housing and planning reform at the heart of Government. 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.”
Vanessa Hale, chief executive at Real Estate:UK, said of the new appointments: “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.”
Highlights:
- Angela Rayner has been appointed housing secretary for a second time, as new prime minister Andy Burnham has selected his first cabinet
- Rayner resigned from the role last year over failing to pay enough stamp duty on a holiday home and breaking the ministerial code
- The PM has also kept Matthew Pennycook on as housing minister, while former housing minister John Healey becomes Chancellor of the Exchequer
