Angela Rayner admitted underpayment of stamp duty on an 800,000 seaside flat in Hove and has referred herself to the prime minister's ethics adviser. She paid the lower rate by classifying the flat as her only residence despite spending much of her time at the family house in Ashton-under-Lyne. Months before the purchase she placed her stake in the constituency home into a trust originally set up in 2020 to manage a payment to a son after a premature birth that left him with life-long disabilities. Tax experts advised that the trust provisions mean the flat cannot be treated as a sole residence, potentially increasing the bill by as much as 40,000 and exposing her to political and hypocrisy criticisms amid planned property tax rises.
Angela Rayner has admitted that she underpaid stamp duty on her 800,000 seaside flat, after coming under intense pressure to be more transparent about her property arrangements. The deputy prime minister has referred herself to the prime minister's ethics adviser after confirming she will have to pay more of the property tax. She incorrectly paid the lower rate on the apartment in Hove, she said. Experts have said the bill could run to as much as an extra 40,000.
Months before the purchase she had put her stake in her constituency home in Ashton into a trust, which was originally set up in 2020 to manage a payment to one of her sons after a deeply personal and distressing incident as a premature baby which left him with life-long disabilities. In May 2025, when she bought the south coast property she was advised by lawyers over the level of stamp duty required, she said.
Subsequently, tax experts had told her that the flat could not be treated as her only residence, because of the provisions of the trust. Tax experts say even though she gave up her financial stake in the home after her divorce, Rayner would be regarded as still owning it if she or her children were a beneficiary under the trust and entitled to occupy the dwelling for life. As the flat was an additional dwelling, she would be expected to pay the higher stamp dut
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