Angela Rayner has admitted to underpaying stamp duty on her second home, placing her place underneath menace.
The Deputy Prime Minister has referred herself to the prime minister’s ethics adviser after confirming she must pay extra of the property tax.
This comes after she paid the wrong quantity on her £800,000 seaside flat in Hove, with consultants suggesting she may owe as much as an additional £40,000.
At Prime Minister’s Question Time, Conservative chief Kemi Badenoch known as for Rayner to be sacked.
“Why is she nonetheless in workplace?,” requested the shadow chief of the opposition.
Reports famous that Rayner, who can also be the housing secretary, may additionally face expenses of hypocrisy as the federal government is anticipated to extend taxes on property homeowners within the upcoming autumn funds on 26 November.
Last 12 months, Chancellor Rachel Reeves elevated the stamp duty surcharge on second properties and funding properties from 3% to five% with quick impact.
Rayner launched the small print of her scenario publicly right now for the primary time as a court docket order has beforehand prevented her from disclosing details about her private life.
She utilized to the court docket and was “launched from this enterprise” final evening.
After a divorce in 2023, Rayner and her ex-husband transferred their curiosity within the household home to a court-instructed belief of which her son could be the only real beneficiary.
In an announcement, Rayner says: “Some of the curiosity in our household home was transferred to the belief in 2023. In January 2025, I offered the remaining curiosity within the property to my son’s belief.” And did so as a result of it was within the “greatest pursuits of our little one”.
The Deputy Prime Minister highlights that the sale of the household home to the belief has not “altered my household life” and “stays my household home, because it has been for over a decade”.
She continues: “After I offered my stake to the belief, I purchased a property in Hove in May 2025. Like many individuals, I used the lump sum from promoting my stake in my Ashton home, which was the one property I owned and the place my financial savings have been, for the deposit on my new one. I obtained a mortgage to finance the remainder.”
“When buying the property my understanding, on recommendation from attorneys, was that my circumstances meant I used to be chargeable for the usual price of stamp duty.”
“However, given the latest allegations within the press I’ve subsequently sought additional recommendation from a number one tax counsel to evaluate 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 every other property on the time of the acquisition, the applying of complicated deeming provisions which relate to my son’s belief offers rise to further stamp duty liabilities.”
“I acknowledge that attributable to my reliance on recommendation from attorneys which didn’t correctly take account of those provisions, I didn’t pay the suitable stamp duty on the time of the acquisition. I’m working with skilled attorneys and with HMRC to resolve the matter and pay what’s due.”
“The preparations I’ve set out replicate the fact that household life isn’t easy, notably when coping with incapacity, divorce, and the complexities of guaranteeing your kids’s long-term safety. Every resolution I’ve made has been guided by what I imagine 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 is for that purpose I’ve right now referred myself to the impartial adviser on ministerial requirements, and can present him with my fullest cooperation and entry to all the knowledge he requires.”
