Angela Rayner dodged shelling out £40,000 in stamp duty on a coastal flat after saying it was her main place of residence to tax authorities, it was claimed last night.
The Deputy Prime Minister reportedly took her name off the deeds of her Greater Manchester property only weeks before purchasing an £800,000 seaside flat in Hove, East Sussex, The Telegraph reports.
It comes after the Daily Mail revealed Ms Rayner, who is also Labour’s Housing Secretary, had purchased the apartment in addition to the £650,000 house she owns in her Greater Manchester constituency.
She also enjoys a three-bedroom grace-and-favour flat in Admiralty House.
The reported deed changes supposedly allowed the Cabinet minister to pay £30,000 in stamp duty instead of £70,000, which would have been applied if the property was her second home.
But Ms Rayner is also said to have told Tameside Council that her home situated in her Ashton-under-Lyne constituency continues to be her primary residence.
Brighton and Hove Council have also been notified by the politician that her apartment there is a second home, for the purposes of council tax, according to the publication.
Earlier this year, Tameside Council approved plans for people with second homes in the area to pay double in council tax.
Ms Rayner’s alleged changes to her property affairs are legal, however, they may spark debate as to whether the Housing Secretary purposefully made decisions to pay less council tax and stamp duty.
A spokesman for Ms Rayner told The Telegraph: ‘The Deputy Prime Minister paid the correct duty owed on the purchase, entirely properly and in line with all relevant requirements. Any suggestion otherwise is entirely without basis.’
Government minister Stephen Kinnock gave a staunch defence of Ms Rayner this morning, insisting the Deputy PM had acted ‘fully within the law’.
He told LBC: ‘The Deputy PM has made it absolutely clear she has done absolutely nothing wrong. I do wonder sometimes about some of the newspapers out there just seem to be sort of constantly looking to dig out stories.’
Mr Kinnock also dismissed a suggestion it was an example of ‘do as I say, not as I do’ from Ms Rayner.
‘As far as I can understand it, I’m not absolutely involved in it, of course, in the detailed discussions,’ he told presenter Nick Ferrari.
‘But my understanding from the statement that has come from the Deputy PM’s office is that she has done absolutely nothing wrong. Everything she has done is fully within the law.’
Pressed on whether there was any ‘stink’ to Ms Rayner’s actions, he added: ‘I am very clear, in terms of what the Deputy PM’s office has said, and what Angela is saying is clearly is that this is not an issue.
‘She has complied with the letter of the law and that is the situation as we find it today this morning.’
But property expert Kirstie Allsopp, who presents TV’s Location, Location, Location, posted on social media: ‘This Government have NO shame, they imposed taxes on the rest of us but find ways not to pay them themselves.’
It comes after Chancellor Rachel Reeves raised surcharge rates on stamp duty for second home owners last October – an initiative originally introduced by the Conservatives in 2016.
Insiders close to Ms Rayner maintained over the weekend that the politician’s home in the north of England was her ‘primary residence’ for the purposes of council tax.
Such a move would mean the Deputy Prime Minister would dodge paying taxes for her Admiralty House flat in London.
The £2,034 council-tax bill for her grace-and-favour Admiralty House apartment is picked up by the taxpayer.
This is because it is listed as her second home, with the constituency house named as her primary residence.
If the Grade I-listed building in Whitehall was treated as her main home, she would be liable to pay council tax on it.
According to The Telegraph’s report, changes are also being made to the Land Registry on her Ashton-under-Lyne home but these are yet to be disclosed publicly.
Before the Labour minister purchased the flat in Hove in May, an application was reportedly made to alter the ownership on the property.
If second home owners sell their property within a three-year grace period, they can claim back the surcharge.
However, there is no requirement which states Ms Rayner must own the house in Greater Manchester for it to be her main residence.
Her ex-husband Mark Rayner, who she is divorcing, lives in the property with their children.
Ms Rayner’s spokesperson has refused to reveal how much the Cabinet minister had spent on stamp duty for the East Sussex flat, however, they denied she had committed any wrongdoing.
The Daily Mail has contacted Ms Rayner and the Labour Party for comment.
Ms Rayner followed advice and longstanding rules at all times, and had paid the relevant tax required on the Hove property, sources close to the politician have said.
Sources also said she does pay the second-home council tax on her property in Hove, and that her living arrangements were due to working in several locations as a result of her role.
They also noted the Deputy Prime Minister has never owned a property in London, or nearby.
It comes after Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice blasted Ms Rayner for being ‘the Everest of hypocrisy’ as she faced scrutiny for her most recent property purchase.
‘She laments a housing shortage, wants to soak the rich, whilst selfishly building her own property mountain,’ he added.
Senior Tory Dame Priti Patel continued: ‘One rule for this condescending hypocritical Labour minister, and a totally different set of rules for the hard-pressed taxpaying silent majority of Britain.’
The Conservatives – who have been asking Ms Rayner for months which of her first two properties was designated as her primary residence for council tax purposes – said she still had questions to answer.
Ms Rayner has been branded a hypocrite for buying the seaside apartment while her own department warns against the impact of second homes.
One of her ministers has previously hit out at the damage caused by the wealthy buying up boltholes for themselves or to rent out in popular areas, pricing locals out of the market.
Housing minister Matthew Pennycook has spoken in Parliament about the ‘negative impacts of excessive concentrations of short-term lets and second homes’, which affect ‘local services’ as well as ‘the availability and affordability of homes for local residents to buy and rent’.
He has told MPs that his and Ms Rayner’s department – which has already given town halls the power to double council tax on second homes – wants to ‘give local communities more power to tackle some of those problems’.
Ms Rayner herself has declared that Britain is in ‘the middle of the most acute housing crisis in living memory’, while Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has warned that second homes ‘can impact the availability and affordability’ of local properties.
Her recent property purchase also coincides with moves by Ms Reeves to hit the middle classes with new property taxes in the autumn Budget as the Chancellor scrambles to plug an estimated £50billion ‘black hole’ in the public finances.
This includes the possible removal of the capital gains tax exemption for the sale of higher-value homes, as well as a replacing stamp duty with an annual charge.
Treasury officials are also said to be eyeing an inheritance tax raid, and considering plans to impose National Insurance on rental income.
Earlier this week, a top polling expert said the row over Ms Rayner’s three homes was a ‘danger’ for Labour and risks pushing more voters towards Reform UK.
Chris Hopkins, political research director of Savanta. told The i Paper: ‘While this story feels like something only those in Westminster will likely pay any attention to, it does provide a few dangers for Labour.
‘First is that it could reinforce the idea that Labour are just as bad as all other parties.
‘Following a summer of donations scandals last year after presenting a holier-than-thou elections campaign, something like this rearing its head is unlikely to help the party reverse its image.
‘Secondly, the fact it’s about Rayner herself, the party’s most “normal” asset, could have negative implications.
‘If even Rayner is tarnished with the same brush as all politicians, Labour stands so little hope of differentiating itself from a public that continues to despise politicians, making insurgent parties such as Reform UK far less risky in the minds of voters.’
