Angela Rayner has faced criticism this week for purchasing an £800,000 seaside apartment in Hove, which will be a third home for the deputy prime minister.
Ms Rayner divides her time between a £350,000 home in her constituency near Manchester and her central London grace-and-favour flat at Admiralty House in Whitehall.
Initially, the criticism centred around allegations of hypocrisy, as it comes as Ms Rayner, who is also the housing secretary, prepares to levy an extra 100 per cent council tax charge on second homes.
Her ministerial colleague, housing minister Matthew Pennycook, has repeatedly spoken in Parliament about the negative impacts of “excessive concentrations of short-term lets and second homes” on local areas, saying they affect local services as well as the “availability and affordability of homes for local residents to buy and rent”.
Ms Rayner herself has warned that the UK is in the midst of “the most acute housing crisis in living memory”, while Sir Keir Starmer has said second homes can “impact the availability and affordability” of local properties.
Therefore, some critics have seized upon Ms Rayner’s purchase of a second home as an example of ministers taking a “one rule for them and another for us” approach.
However, sources close to the housing secretary have insisted she has followed all the longstanding rules and regulations when it comes to purchasing a second property – and has paid all the appropriate council tax and stamp duty.
Therefore, it is also possible to argue that, in advocating for a clampdown on second home owners – Ms Rayner has actually been supportive of policies that would cost her money in the long run, simply because she thinks it is the right thing to do. In this regard, there’s an argument that this actually demonstrates integrity, rather than hypocrisy.
However, the row deepened on Friday after The Telegraph reported that Ms Rayner saved £40,000 in stamp duty on her new seaside flat after telling tax authorities it was her main home.
The newspaper reported that the deputy PM removed her name from the deeds of her house in Greater Manchester a few weeks before buying the new flat, allowing her to avoid paying £70,000 in stamp duty, which would have been applicable if Hove was her second home. Instead, she is thought to have paid £30,000 in stamp duty.
While there is no suggestion that Ms Rayner has done anything illegal, such a move raises questions over whether she tried to fiddle the very system that she oversees.
It will also raise questions over her commitment to her Ashton-under-Lyne constituency – as by convention MPs are expected to spend a significant amount of time in the area they represent.
In the midst of the row over her new Hove property, the Tories are now also claiming she has broken electoral law to avoid paying council tax on her London property.
The council tax bill for Ms Rayner’s flat in London is currently waived because it is designated as a second home, an arrangement which is based on her argument that her family home in Ashton-under-Lyne is her primary residence.
But the Tories this week have begun the process of attempting to have her removed form the electoral roll in Ashton-under-Lyne, claiming she does not “meet the legal tests for living there”, with Tory chairman Kevin Hollinrake accusing Ms Rayner of wanting “higher taxes on family homes, but doesn’t want to pay it herself”.
If the deputy prime minister is removed from the register in her constituency home, she is likely to then become liable for the council tax bill on her London home.
It also poses a political problem, as if she doesn’t have a permanent residence in her constituency then she is likely to face criticism at the next election for not being plugged into the local area enough to represent the people that live there. The Independent has contacted Ms Rayner for comment.
However, defenders of Ms Rayner have dismissed many of the allegations as “snobbery” towards the working class minister, pointing out that Ms Rayner’s living situation is far from being out of the ordinary for a government minister.
The flat she uses in Admiralty House in Whitehall has been used by numerous deputy PMs before her – and keeping a taxpayer funded London residence is standard practice for MPs.
Writing in The Independent, Flic Everett argued the “outrage over Rayner is nothing to do with her ‘hypocrisy’. It’s because a successful, attractive woman from a comprehensive school near Manchester, who doesn’t talk as if she’s swallowed all the plums in the icebox or dress like a Home Counties wife, has dared to raise her head above the political parapet.”
If the deputy prime minister has followed the rules entirely, it is also possible to argue that, rather than criticising people for purchasing second homes, instead we should focussing on building more homes so ownership is accessible for all – something the government is already attempting to do with their push to reach 1.5 million homes.
