Angela Rayner faces an ethics investigation tonight after the Conservatives formally accused the Deputy Prime Minister of “hypocritical tax avoidance” over her controversial purchase of an £800,000 seaside flat in Hove, East Sussex.
Conservative Party chairman Kevin Hollinrake has written to Sir Laurie Magnus, the Prime Minister’s independent adviser on ministerial standards, demanding an urgent probe into whether Ms Rayner breached the ministerial code by allegedly dodging £40,000 in stamp duty through contradictory declarations about her primary residence.
The explosive allegations centre on claims that the Housing Secretary told HM Revenue and Customs the luxury Hove property was her main home to avoid paying £70,000 in stamp duty, whilst simultaneously informing Brighton and Hove Council it was a second home for council tax purposes, and maintaining to Tameside Council that her Greater Manchester constituency home remained her primary residence.
The paper reports that she removed her name from the deeds of her constituency house in Greater Manchester a few weeks before the purchase, enabling her to pay just £30,000 in stamp duty instead of the £70,000 that would have applied if the seafront flat had been classified as a second home.
The timing of the controversy could not be more damaging for Ms Rayner, who as Housing Secretary recently gave councils enhanced powers to levy an extra 100 per cent on top of council tax for second homes. Chancellor Rachel Reeves has increased the amount of tax Brits will pay when buying their second home to provide support for first-time buyers and those moving home, with a 2% increase in stamp duty to 5% on second homes and investment properties – which takes effect tomorrow.
In his scathing letter to Sir Laurie Magnus, Mr Hollinrake wrote: “She is paying second homes council tax to Brighton and Hove council on a property that she tells HMRC is not a second home”. The Tory chairman added: “This may be lawful, but it is inappropriate tax avoidance for a minister subject to higher standards of conduct”.
The Deputy Prime Minister’s complex property arrangements have raised eyebrows across Westminster. Ms Rayner currently juggles three residences: her £800,000 Hove apartment purchased in May 2025, her constituency home in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, and a grace-and-favour flat in Admiralty House, central London, funded by taxpayers.
Hollinrake argued this was “likely to be her primary home – where she spends the majority of her time as a minister”, suggesting her London residence, rather than her claimed Greater Manchester home, should be considered her primary address.
The Conservatives have also launched a parallel attack, writing to Tameside Council demanding Ms Rayner be struck off the electoral roll if the Greater Manchester property is no longer her permanent home. They claimed she was currently registered at three addresses – in Ashton-under-Lyne, London and Hove.
Cabinet minister Stephen Kinnock rushed to Ms Rayner’s defence this morning, insisting “the Deputy Prime Minister has made it absolutely clear she’s done absolutely nothing wrong”. Speaking to LBC’s Nick Ferrari at Breakfast, Mr Kinnock maintained: “She has complied with the letter of the law and that is the situation as we find it today”.
A spokesperson for Ms Rayner hit back at the allegations, stating: “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”.
Sources close to the Deputy Prime Minister revealed that following her divorce, she ceased to own a stake in the Greater Manchester property, though she still considers it her primary residence because her children live there. The arrangement, whilst entirely legal, has sparked fierce debate about whether senior ministers should be held to higher standards when structuring their property affairs.
The controversy has reignited memories of previous scrutiny over Ms Rayner’s property dealings. The Deputy Prime Minister previously faced a police investigation into her historic living arrangements and the sale of a former council house in Stockport, which she had purchased under the Right to Buy scheme.
Under the rules, ministers are asked to confirm their tax affairs are up to date and consistent with their overarching duty to comply with the law. Mr Hollinrake argued that Rayner had breached the Ministerial Code because “her tax affairs are not in good order”.
The Tory chairman has called for sanctions if Ms Rayner is found to have breached the ministerial code, suggesting “at the very least, an appropriate sanction could be to strip her of her ministerial residence”. He also demanded that Ms Rayner should stop presiding over government decisions on council tax for second homes and start paying council tax personally on her London flat.
Ms Rayner was spotted enjoying the beach near her new property for the first time last week, drinking a glass of rose wine while in a Dryrobe, as the controversy began to build.
The timing of the revelations is particularly awkward given Labour’s stance on property taxation. The party has consistently attacked wealthy property owners and championed measures to crack down on second home ownership that drives up prices in tourist hotspots.
The Tories have called on Laurie Magnus, the prime minister’s independent ethics adviser, to probe whether Rayner broke the ministerial code by failing to be transparent about her tax arrangements.
Sir Laurie Magnus, who earlier this year released a damning probe into then-Anti-Corruption Minister Tulip Siddiq, will now decide whether to launch a full investigation into the Deputy Prime Minister’s affairs in the coming days.
The Electoral Commission guidance states that whilst some people may be eligible to register at more than one address if they can be deemed resident at both, owning a property or paying council tax are not on their own sufficient to establish someone is resident at an address.
As the controversy deepens, all eyes will be on Sir Keir Starmer to see whether he maintains confidence in his deputy. Number 10 has so far insisted the Prime Minister retains full confidence in Ms Rayner, but pressure is mounting for a thorough investigation into her property arrangements.
The outcome of any investigation could have significant implications not just for Ms Rayner’s political future, but for Labour’s credibility on housing policy and ministerial standards.
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Image Credit:
Official portrait of Angela Rayner — photo by Chris McAndrew, taken in June 2017. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0)
