Angela Rayner is leaving the Government, following an investigation by Sir Laurie Magnus into her actions while buying a flat in Hove for £800,000 and her decision to pay the lower ‘main residence’ Stamp Duty rate after putting her northern family home into a trust.

Magnus was appointed as the Prime Minister’s Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests in December 2022 by Rishi Sunak, a role that was then renamed the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards by Keir Starmer.

He found that whle Rayner acted in ‘good faith’ Rayner says she recognises her under-payment of Stamp Duty did not meet the ‘highest standards’.

In a letter published this morning Rayner says she ‘deeply regrets’ the decision, saying she wishes she had sought ‘additional tax advice’ saying she takes ‘full responsibility for this error’.

“Given the findings [of Magnus’ report] and the impact on my family I therefore decided to resign.”

This means there will be three roles to fill following her departure – housing secretary, Deputy Leader of the Party and Deputy Prime Minister.

While several tax experts have said the act of putting a property into trust and getting that entity to buy the property off you in order to release equity, therefore making any subsequent property purchased your ‘main residence’, is an arcane but legal tactic, it is Rayner’s previous and subsequent actions that have caused problems.

Stamp Duty

The housing secretary, who has been in post since Labour’s landslide victory last year, has in the past not held back when criticising other senior politicians for ‘one rule for everyone, another rule for themselves’. This now looks unfair given she sought intentionally or unintentionally to avoid paying the full Stamp Duty on her flat purchase in Hove.

Rayner’s other problem has been to blame her actions on ‘advisors’ including the conveyancing firm that handled the purchase on her behalf.

It evidently didn’t cross Rayner’s mind that a short phone call from The Telegraph to her conveyancing firm Verrico Associates to check if they gave her tax advice would undermine her claims.

Given she is housing secretary, she might have been familiar with CLC member rules which make it clear conveyancers cannot give tax or other financial advice to clients and must use the information provided to them in order to calculate the correct tax to the best of their abilities.

Industry reaction

Melanie Leech CBE, Chief Executive, British Property Federation

”Now more than ever business and investor confidence in the UK matters if we are to grow the economy, create jobs, and deliver the modern infrastructure we need,” she says.

“Such changes at the top of Government do little to reassure those looking to invest and looking to deliver, especially within our sector which relies on stability.

“We hope the next Secretary of State will continue Angela Rayner’s robust support for the builders not the blockers but will also take the opportunity to rethink policies which are damaging confidence such as the surprise ban on upward only rent reviews and the delayed homes penalty.

“Most urgently, however, the new Secretary of State must work with the sector to tackle viability issues and ensure barriers to delivery are addressed. This includes a laser focus on resolving delays at the Building Safety Regulator, which are having a chilling effect on new development across the country.”

Lawrence Turner, Director of planning consultancy Boyer

“Angela Rayner’s planning reforms rightly acknowledged the scale of the Housing Crisis and the urgent need for bold, decisive action. Her resignation must not become an excuse for delay.

“The new Secretary of State now bears the responsibility to continue to unlock delivery and work to win the support of local authorities to provide the homes and infrastructure communities desperately need.

“The new Secretary of State will be judged not by words, but by outcomes. If they can build consensus across local authorities and drive real progress on housing delivery, there remains a genuine opportunity to “turbo-charge” house building within this Parliament.”

Roxanne Barker, CEO, Fix My Legals

“Angela Rayner’s seaside property saga shows how easily buyers can get tripped up by tax rules.

“A good conveyancer makes it clear where their role ends, so their clients are in no doubt, especially on tax matters – and that their next step is to seek the right specialist advice, ideally through joined-up collaborations and working with tax advisers – so costly mistakes are avoided.”