Tax experts say she may actually be liable
Angela Rayner is under renewed pressure over her financial affairs after tax advisers raised doubts about whether she should have secured a £40,000 saving on stamp duty for her newly acquired flat in Hove.
The deputy prime minister and housing secretary declared the £800,000 purchase as her sole property. Yet questions persist about whether she still retained an ownership stake in her former family home in Ashton-under-Lyne, which she placed into a trust for her children in 2023.
Rayner originally bought the Ashton property with her ex-husband in 2016. Following their separation, part of the house’s equity was transferred into a trust administered by Shoosmiths Trust Corporation. The intention, it is understood, was to safeguard an inheritance for her children.
But tax lawyers have suggested the transfer may not have been enough to sever her beneficial ownership for the purposes of stamp duty land tax (SDLT). As The Times reported, one adviser explained: “When you have a minor child that’s treated as owning an interest in land, and that’s usually where a trust isn’t discretionary in nature, but they have an interest to live in it during their life … then in those sorts of circumstances it’s the parents that are treated as still owning an interest in the property.”
If correct, the Ashton house would still count towards Rayner’s property holdings, meaning the Hove flat should have attracted the higher rate of SDLT for second homes.
Legal Explainer: Trusts and Stamp Duty
How SDLT Works
- SDLT applies when buying a property in England or Northern Ireland.
- Higher rates — an extra 3 per cent — are charged if the purchaser already owns another residential property.
Trust Complications
- A property placed in trust does not automatically mean the original owner gives up their interest.
- If the trust beneficiaries are minors, HMRC often treats parents as still owning the property.
- The key distinction is between:
- Discretionary trusts, where trustees control the asset and the settlor has no benefit; and
- Interest in possession trusts, where beneficiaries (in this case, children) are treated as having a present right to benefit. In such cases, ownership can still be attributed back to the parent.
The Law
- The Finance Act 2003, Schedule 4ZA, defines what counts as “ownership” for SDLT.
- HMRC’s SDLT Manual makes clear that placing a home into trust does not necessarily remove the settlor from being treated as an owner.
Downing Street has stood firmly behind Rayner. Sir Keir Starmer described her as a “great British success story”, saying in an interview with BBC 5 Live: “Angela is deputy prime minister of this country, that’s an incredible achievement. And Angela came from a very humble background, battled all sorts of challenges along the way, and there she is proudly — and I’m proud of her — as our deputy prime minister.”
His spokesman claimed that she was unable to clarify her situation further: “There is a court order which restricts her from providing further information, which she’s urgently working on rectifying in the interests of public transparency.”
Multiple Residences, Conflicting Claims
The dispute now encompasses three properties:
- The Ashton-under-Lyne home, partly settled into trust.
- Admiralty House in London, a grace-and-favour residence linked to her ministerial role.
- The newly purchased Hove flat.
Confusion has arisen because Rayner reportedly declared the Ashton home as her main residence for council tax, while telling Brighton and Hove council her new flat was a “second home” for local purposes — but simultaneously asserting it was her only property for stamp duty purposes.
According to The Times, Land Registry records still show her name attached to the Ashton deeds, despite an application to alter the record earlier this year.
Rayner has consistently denied wrongdoing. Her spokesman said: “The deputy prime minister paid the relevant duty owing on the purchase of the Hove property in line with relevant requirements and entirely properly. Any suggestion otherwise is entirely without basis.”
Yet opponents see the matter as politically damaging. Richard Tice, Reform UK’s deputy leader, said: “According to all reports, everything she’s done is legal and above board. Whether it’s morally above board is a different question.”
Labour figures have offered more cautious backing. Stephen Morgan, the education minister, told Times Radio: “Angela Rayner has set out her living circumstances and … she’s answered questions put to her. But look, it’s not fair for me to get into the specifics of her personal circumstances.”
While it is not alleged that Rayner broke the law, the row has become a distraction at a time when Labour is seeking to sharpen its message on fairness in the housing market. For a minister responsible for housing policy, the optics are especially uncomfortable.
As one tax specialist put it privately, the issue is not whether her actions were technically lawful but whether they align with the standards of transparency voters expect from those in charge of housing rules.
