Angela Rayner has reportedly dodged shelling out £40,000 on her coastal flat after saying it was her main place of residence to tax authorities.
Labour’s Housing Secretary reportedly took her name off the deeds of her Greater Manchester property only weeks before purchasing an £800,000 coastal flat in Hove, East Sussex, The Telegraph has claimed.
It comes after the Mail revealed the Deputy Prime Minister had purchased the apartment in addition to a £650,000 house she owns in her constituency and 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.
Rayner is also said to have told Tameside council that her home situated in her constituency continues to be her primary residence.
Brighton and Hove council have also been notified by the politician that her property there is a second home, for the purposes of council tax, according to the publication.
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.
It comes as, last October, Chancellor Rachel Reeves raised surcharge rates on stamp duty r for second home owners – 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 the on liable to pay council tax on it.
According to publication, changes are also being made to the Land Registry on her Ashton-under-Lyme 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 there 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.
A spokesman for Ms Rayner said: ‘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.’
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 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 in London, or nearby.
It comes after, Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice blasted 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.’
At the time, 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.
Her recent property purchase also coincides with moves by Chancellor Rachel Reeves to hit the middle classes with new property taxes in the autumn Budget.
As part of the Treasury’s desperate effort to balance the books, Ms Rayner is considering plans to increase council tax bills in affluent areas by £380 per year to divert funds to deprived parts of the country.