When I read Angela Rayner's public statement, I almost felt like crying.
Angie was cynically accused of having removed her name from the deeds of her
four-bedroom property in Ashton-under-Lyne in order to avoid paying £40,000
stamp duty (Tax) on another property in Hove, Brighton. She bought the house in
Ashton with her former husband in 2016 for £375,000, when she became the MP for
Ashton-under-Lyne. The property is now said to have a value of £650,000.
In May 2024, Rayner was accused in the press of having failed to pay capital gains tax for the sale of her former council house and of having wrongly declared her permanent address on the electoral register. She was cleared on both counts. Both Rayner and her former husband, Mark Rayner, a trade union official, had sold their former council houses in Stockport. These properties had been acquired under the 'Right-to-Buy' scheme. Rayner had maintained that her property in Ashton was her primary residence, and saved £2,000 in council tax on another property in London. She's now admitted to not paying enough stamp duty on the £800,000 luxury seaside flat in Hove, Brighton, but says this was done in error because she was incorrectly advised when she and her former husband put the family home in a trust, for their son who has disabilities and for her other children. In short, it's not her fault but the fault of someone else.
The problems seem to arise because Ms Rayner currently as three residences. When it comes to her constituents and her local Tameside Council, her primary residence is said to be in Ashton, but her local neighbours' say that they never see her. When it comes to saving £40,000 in stamp duty, her primary residence is said to be a flat in Hove, because she told the tax authorities this wasn't a second home but her primary residence. Her third home is a rent free 'grace and favour' apartment in Admiralty House, that was once the London home of Winston Churchill. This is now her primary residence when she's in London. She moved there when she gave up her rented property in London. Rayner has now referred herself to the watchdog on parliamentary standards and according to press reports, is under investigation by HMRC.
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I wouldn't have thought that giving advice on stamp duty land tax (SDLT), was the job of a conveyancer. It seems that on two occasions Angela Rayner was advised to take independent expert advice about SDLT and she failed to do so. Rayner was the housing minister but doesn't seem to have been aware that a government website says that if a trust is set up for a child under 18 - as Ms Rayner's son is - the parent is treated as still owning that dwelling for the purposes of stamp duty. The conveyancing firm, Verrico and Associates, said its lawyers 'never' gave Ms Rayner tax advice and were being made 'scapegoats'." In a statement, managing director Joanna Verrico said, "We're not qualified to give advice on trust and tax matters and we advise clients to seek expert advice on these."
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