Red milk or blue? What happened when the Chancellor dropped in for a cuppa with Wolverhampton family
Chancellor of the Exchequer Reeves dropped in for a cuppa with a Wolverhampton couple to hear about their plans to buy their first home.
The Chancellor dropped in on schoolteacher Ricky Jeffrey and wife Xian Chen, who are living with Ricky's parents at their home in Wychall Drive.
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Next month the couple, and their five-year-old son Lennox, will move into their first home, almost nine years after getting married. They lived with Xian's family in China for eight years after getting married in 2017, but last year the couple moved to the UK to live in Wolverhampton.
The Chancellor was also accompanied by Wolverhampton North East MP Sureena Brackenridge, and Ricky jokingly asked if they wanted red top or blue top milk with their tea.
The Chancellor said the average homeowner in Wolverhampton was now more than £1,300 a year better off than when Labour took office thanks to six consecutive cuts to interest rates.
Miss Reeves said a household taking out a new, representative mortgage on a £216,000 house in December 2025 - the median price in Wolverhampton - would pay £1,390 a year less than if they took out an identical mortgage in June 2024, at the time of the election.
"This means families taking out a new mortgage are saving over £100 each month, and I know from having a young family of my own, that an extra £100 a month can make a big difference.
"So, I'm here today to meet a couple who are benefiting from that at the moment, living with mum and dad in a lovely house in Wolverhampton, but not a house designed for grandparents, mum and a grandson as well. Because of the reduction in mortgage rates, that young family is going to be able to get a home."
Ricky, who teaches English at Moreton School in the city, said: "We've been looking to buy our first home for some time, but housing costs were just so high it made it more difficult. Now interest rates are starting to come down, it definitely makes it easier, and we're really excited to move into our first home."
The Chancellor acknowledged that people were feeling financial pressures at the moment, but said 2026 would be the year when people would start to feel the benefits of the decision the Labour government had taken.
"I recognise that people in Wolverhampton, indeed right across the country, have gone through a really challenging few years," she said.
"Interest rates went through the roof, energy bills went through the roof, and it's not possible to turn all of that around overnight, but what we have been able to do is return stability to the economy., which has enabled those cuts in interest rates over the last 18 months.
"Every single month, wages have gone up by more than prices on average. I honestly believe this is the year when people are going to start feeling that in their pockets, and as well as that, the lower mortgage rates."
Miss Reeves said the Government would also be reducing people's energy bills by an average of £150 next month, as well as freezing rail fares and prescription charges. When it was pointed out that the energy cap had risen by £188 since Labour came into office, she said energy prices were influenced by global events, but focusing on renewable energy rather than imported fossil fuels would reduce this threat in years to come.
Last month the Government published its provisional spending settlements with local authorities, predicting increases in spending power based on the assumption that councils would increase council tax by the maximum 4.99 per cent permitted without a referendum.
But Councillor Patrick Harley, leader of Conservative-run Dudley Council, who described the three-year settlement as 'miserly', saying Dudley was getting considerably money than neighbouring Walsall and Wolverhampton.
The Chancellor said it was up to the authorities themselves whether they wanted to increase council tax by the full five per cent, or instead opt for a smaller increase.
"I expect we will see in spring, different councils will make different decision on that, all councils recognise the cost-of-living challenges that families face.
"But it's interesting that Reform said last year that they wouldn't increase council tax, and instead they would find efficiencies in local spending. Now we find, in the councils they run, that they're doing exactly the opposite. They are whacking up council tax because they say there aren't efficiencies to be had."
Mrs Brackenridge said Wolverhampton's Labour council had also made tackling the housing crisis a key priority.
The council has created its own housebuilding company, WV Living, to boost building and ensure there were enough affordable homes for residents, with plans to build 500 new homes in the upcoming year.
Mrs Brackenridge said: "So many families in Wolverhampton are struggling to find a safe, secure home to call their own.
"We inherited a housing crisis, but our Labour government and Labour council are working together to fix it, investing in affordable housing right here in Wolverhampton and bringing interest rates down so more families can realise the dream of homeownership. Ricky and Xian's story shows what's possible when we get the foundations of our economy right."
