Matthew Pennycook says ending system must be done slowly to avoid hitting housing supply and legal pitfalls

A ban on new leasehold properties in England and Wales is unlikely to come into force until after the next election, the housing minister has said, as he defended the government’s piecemeal attempts to dismantle the system.

The long-promised end would take years to “switch on”, Matthew Pennycook said, even though the ban of leaseholds on new houses was passed in 2024 and the government intends to pass one on new flats soon.

Downing Street says focus will remain on cutting bills, backing renters and lowering energy prices

Downing Street has dismissed the idea of a freeze on private sector rents even as Rachel Reeves left the door open to such a move, after the Guardian revealed the chancellor has been considering it as an option to cut the cost of living.

A No 10 spokesperson said on Tuesday that freezing private sector rents was “not the approach we will be taking” after sources told the Guardian it was Reeves’s preferred solution for dealing with a spike in housing costs in the wake of the Iran war.

Some familiar, arcane terms are returning to the fore as the Tories study the tactics Labour used against Boris Johnson

The lexicon of a British parliamentary scandal is arcane.

As Keir Starmer fights to remain prime minister, he has had to respond to a “humble address”, had his judgment picked over during an “emergency opposition day debate” and now faces the ignominy of a “privilege motion”.

Ex-civil servant says he was asked to find diplomatic role for Matthew Doyle, who was later suspended from Labour

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Downing Street pushed the foreign office to find a diplomatic role for Keir Starmer’s communications chief over the head of the then foreign secretary, the former head of the department has revealed.

Testifying to MPs at parliament’s foreign affairs select committee on Tuesday, Olly Robbins said he had several conversations with No 10 about finding a role for Matthew Doyle, who was later suspended as a Labour peer after it emerged he had campaigned for a friend charged with possessing indecent images of children.