Angela Rayner: Key events in stamp duty row

Angela Rayner is facing calls to resign after she admitted underpaying stamp duty on a seaside flat she bought earlier this year.

The Deputy Prime Minister has faced questions about the purchase of the £800,000 Hove home in recent weeks, after the Daily Telegraph reported she paid £40,000 less in stamp duty on the property than she should have if it were considered a second home.

This was because she claimed it was her primary residence for the purpose of the purchase, after her name was removed from the deeds of her family home in Greater Manchester.

In conflict with this, Ms Rayner had elsewhere described the Ashton-under-Lyne property as her primary residence.

She has since revealed after lifting a court order that the home is held in a trust, and is where she and her ex-husband jointly care for their disabled son.

Here the PA news agency looks at the timeline of how Ms Rayner’s tax affairs came to light.

– In 2020, Ms Rayner’s son received a compensation award following difficulties in his birth and care, and this was used to set up a “court-instructed” trust to look after his interests. Ms Rayner has spoken in the past of the difficulties she faced after her son’s premature birth.

– Ms Rayner and her husband divorced in 2023. In that year, they transferred half the ownership of their Greater Manchester home to the trust. They agreed to an arrangement where their children would remain at the home while they both lived there on an alternating basis. The arrangement was also to benefit their disabled son, as the home is adapted to his needs.

– In 2024, before Labour came to power, Ms Rayner faced questions from the media over whether she paid the correct tax on the sale of a former home, a council house in Manchester. The police and HMRC both said no action needed to be taken.

– In January 2025, Ms Rayner sold her 25% stake in the Ashton-under-Lyne home to the trust. She however insists it remains her family home “as it been for over a decade”. The Telegraph reported she received £162,000 for the sale.

– In May 2025, she bought the flat in Hove. She used the lump sum from selling her Greater Manchester home towards a deposit for the new property, and obtained a mortgage to pay for the remainder.

– In August, photographs of Ms Rayner enjoying herself at the seaside in Hove were published by newspapers. The Daily Telegraph reported she may have saved some £2,000 in council tax on her grace and favour home at Admiralty House, in central London, because she suggested her Greater Manchester home remained her primary residence.

– Reporting by the Telegraph then revealed that Ms Rayner had taken her name off the deeds of her Ashton-under-Lyne home. This meant she had paid only £30,000 in stamp duty on her Hove flat, instead of the £70,000 which would have been required if it were considered a second home. The newspaper and Ms Rayner’s political opponents questioned the conflicting accounts about her Greater Manchester home.

– During the process of buying the flat, Ms Rayner took legal advice from several sources about the amount of stamp duty she needed to pay, none of which suggested she was underpaying. This proved to be inaccurate.

– On Friday August 29, she instructed a KC to review her position on stamp duty after reporting in the media. Initial advice from the KC came back on the evening of Monday September 1 and appeared to suggest differently from previous advice she had received.

– Sir Keir Starmer gave a full-throated defence of his deputy that Monday. But his official spokesman said a court order prevented the PM and his deputy from speaking in more detail.

– The court order, which prevented Ms Rayner from speaking about the arrangements for her son at her Greater Manchester home, was lifted late on Tuesday September 2.

– On the morning of Wednesday September 3, final legal advice from the KC arrived. Ms Rayner made a public statement, admitting she underpaid stamp duty. The Deputy PM also referred herself to the Prime Minister’s independent ethics adviser and said she was working with HMRC to pay back any tax she owed.

– Sir Keir again defended Ms Rayner at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, and said he was “proud” to sit beside her. The Conservatives and Reform both suggested she should resign.

– On Thursday September 4, Downing Street said Sir Keir had been kept updated “as was appropriate” throughout. But No 10 continued to face questions from reporters about how much the Prime Minister knew and when.