Property Taxes

Ben Coleman Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd September 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (Dan Tomlinson)]

I thank the shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government for bringing the debate to a close for the Opposition and for the welcome that he has given me as I move down to the Front Bench. I also thank my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury for his speech and congratulate him on his promotion to Cabinet. He was a fantastic Exchequer Secretary, and I will do my best to carry out the role with the same diligence and effectiveness.

I also wish to put on record that, although I may be standing at the Dispatch Box for the first time, my respect for this place and for the Members on both sides of this House and on all Benches will remain. The Commons, after all, is the heart of our democracy. The importance of Ministers being held to account and of MPs voting and debating on big issues—and on Opposition Day debates—and, crucially, of the public being able to hold us all to account will never diminish in my mind. I look forward to continuing to work constructively with Members from all parts of the House as we discuss and debate the important and very interesting topic of tax policy.

Under the leadership of the Chancellor and the Prime Minister, this Government are turning the page on 14 years of economic mismanagement. We must and we will put an end to the years of sluggish economic growth and squeezed living standards—issues that have typified the past two decades. We must turn this country around and build an economy that works for everyone.

[Ben Coleman (Chelsea and Fulham) (Lab)]

I welcome my hon. Friend to his new position, which is hugely well deserved. This motion gives the impression that the Conservatives care about homeowners and renters, but does he agree that it is Labour who are giving homeowners greater powers and protections through leasehold reform, giving renters stability so that they can stay in their homes for longer, and building 1.5 million more homes to tackle the terrible housing legacy of the previous Government? They did too little and we are sorting it out.

[Dan Tomlinson]

I thank my hon. Friend for that very kind intervention. I agree with every word that he said.

The subject of today’s debate is, of course, taxes and which taxes may or may not change in the future. Let me be clear: I will not be writing the Budget today or any day in this role. That is a job for the Chancellor. Just as she delivered a Budget that fixed the foundations for the country last year, I am confident that the Budget this year will showcase the right choices for the country for the long-term health of public and family finances.

Property taxes make a significant contribution to the public finances, raising more than £75 billion a year. That is crucial for funding our schools, our NHS, our emergency services and our armed forces and for filling in potholes too. They help to provide a broad tax base, which underpins good fiscal policy. I know that that is not something to which the previous Government gave much thought. They were happy, it seemed, to run our economy and public finances into the ground, leaving us with a £22 billion black hole, which we of course had to fill.

We believe in a tax system that is fair and sustainable and that supports economic growth. At the autumn Budget in 2024, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor took a number of decisions to raise taxes on the wealthy to help fix our public finances and support public services such as the NHS and education. These tax changes included: abolishing the non-domicile tax status; raising the rates of capital gains tax; limiting inheritance tax reliefs; and increasing air passenger duty for private jets. Thanks to the work of my predecessor and the great work of HMRC officials, whom I am looking forward to working with, we are also increasing work to make sure that the wealthy pay their fair share of the tax that they owe. These changes and others that we have made demonstrate the fundamental truth of politics in 2025.