Angela Rayner admits underpaying stamp responsibility on £800,000 seaside flat | Angela Rayner

[ad_1] Angela Rayner has admitted she underpaid stamp responsibility on her £800,000 seaside flat, after coming underneath intense stress to be extra clear about her property preparations.

The deputy prime minister has referred herself to the prime minister’s ethics adviser after confirming she should pay extra of the property tax. She incorrectly paid the decrease fee on the flat in Hove, she stated. Consultants have stated the invoice might run to as a lot as an additional £40,000.

The affirmation that the housing secretary has underpaid tax might place Rayner’s place in jeopardy as Labour, which is trailing behind Reform UK within the polls, has struggled to persuade swathes of the general public it's on the aspect of working folks.

She might additionally face fees of hypocrisy as the federal government is anticipated to extend taxes on property house owners within the autumn funds.

In a extremely private assertion to the Guardian, Rayner stated she “deeply regretted” the error had been made, after classifying the flat as her solely property, regardless of spending a lot of her time along with her kids on the household home in Ashton-under-Lyne, Better Manchester.

In an early signal of help, Keir Starmer informed MPs he was “very proud to take a seat alongside” Rayner on the frontbench of the Commons. The prime minister, who gave his deputy a pat on the shoulder when he arrived for PMQs, stated referring herself to the ethics adviser was the “proper factor to do”.

“She has defined her private circumstances intimately. She has gone over and above in setting out the main points, together with asking the court docket to raise a confidentiality order in relation to her personal son,” he stated.

“I do know from talking at size to the deputy prime minister simply how troublesome that call was for her and her household, however she did it. She did it to make sure that all info is within the public area.”

Rayner seems to be secure in her submit till the ethics adviser, Laurie Magnus, concludes whether or not she has damaged the ministerial code and, if that's the case, how severely. Starmer, nonetheless, is more likely to face ongoing stress over her place. Kemi Badenoch, the Tory chief, stated: “If he had a spine he would sack her.”

Months earlier than the acquisition, Rayner had put her stake in her constituency dwelling in Ashton right into a belief, which was initially arrange in 2020 to handle a cost to certainly one of her sons, who, after a “deeply private and distressing incident” as a untimely child, had been left with lifelong disabilities.

In Might 2025, when she purchased the south coast property, Rayner stated she was suggested by legal professionals over the extent of stamp responsibility required. Subsequently, tax specialists had informed her that the flat couldn't be handled as her solely residence due to the provisions of the belief.

Tax specialists say that, despite the fact that she gave up her monetary stake within the Ashton home after her divorce, Rayner can be thought to be nonetheless proudly owning it if she or her kids had been a beneficiary underneath the belief and entitled to occupy the dwelling for all times.

Because the flat was an extra dwelling, she can be anticipated to pay the upper stamp responsibility fee of £70,000, fairly than the £30,000 she really paid. She is now working with HM Income and Customs to ascertain precisely how a lot is due.

No matter possession, the Ashton property stays her household dwelling and the place she is registered for many official and monetary functions, together with council tax and the electoral roll. It's the place her kids stay full-time, whereas she and her former husband take turns dwelling on the home and caring for them.

“Whereas I don't discover it simple to publicly talk about private and typically distressing household issues, I've all the time taken my duty as an MP and deputy prime minister severely and tried to be as open as attainable whereas defending my household,” Rayner informed the Guardian.

“To deal with the allegations made in opposition to me I've now taken the troublesome choice to elucidate why my preparations are as they're.”

Downing Avenue had revealed on Monday that Rayner was prevented from publicising all the particulars about her property possession by a court docket order. Within the pursuits of transparency, she utilized to the court docket and was given permission to debate them publicly on Tuesday evening.

In her assertion, Rayner stated: “When buying the property my understanding, on recommendation from legal professionals, was that my circumstances meant I used to be responsible for the usual fee of stamp responsibility.

“Nonetheless, given the latest allegations within the press I've subsequently sought additional recommendation from a number one tax counsel to evaluation that place and to make sure I'm absolutely compliant with all tax provisions.

“I've now been suggested that though I didn't personal another property on the time of the acquisition, the appliance of complicated deeming provisions which relate to my son’s belief provides rise to further stamp responsibility liabilities.

“I acknowledge that on account of my reliance on recommendation from legal professionals which didn't correctly take account of those provisions, I didn't pay the suitable stamp responsibility on the time of the acquisition. I'm working with knowledgeable legal professionals and with HMRC to resolve the matter and pay what's due.”

She added: “The preparations I've set out mirror the fact that household life is never easy, notably when coping with incapacity, divorce and the complexities of guaranteeing your kids’s long-term safety. Each choice I've made has been guided by what I consider to be in my kids’s greatest pursuits.

“I deeply remorse the error that has been made. I'm dedicated to resolving this matter absolutely and offering the transparency that public service calls for. It's for that motive I've in the present day referred myself to the impartial adviser on ministerial requirements, and can present him with my fullest cooperation and entry to all the data he requires.”