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Deputy PM admits she should have paid more stamp duty

ended 03. September 2025

Deputy PM Angela Rayner has admitted that she should have paid more stamp duty on her recent flat purchase. She blames the error on incorrect tax advice. Here is her full statement:-

Following the substantial scrutiny surrounding my living arrangements, I wanted to set out the facts as openly and transparently as I can.

Until now, an undertaking in a court order prevented me from disclosing information about certain aspects of my personal life. In the interests of public transparency, I applied to the court and I was last night released from this undertaking.

Family life can be complicated, and it is no secret that, like many families across the country, my domestic arrangements reflect these complexities. Throughout my career, I have always tried to be the best mum to my children, while managing the demanding realities of public service.

There has been a lot of speculation in recent days about my domestic arrangements and in particular the home I share with my ex-husband and my family. While I do not find it easy to publicly discuss personal and sometimes distressing family matters, I have always taken my responsibility as an MP and deputy prime minister seriously and tried to be as open as possible while protecting my family. To address the allegations made against me I have now taken the difficult decision to explain why my arrangements are as they are.

In 2023 my ex-husband and I divorced. As parents who have been through divorce will understand, the top priority for both of us during that process was the wellbeing of our children and helping them navigate this change. To provide maximum stability during this transition, we agreed to a nesting arrangement where the children remain in the family home full-time while we alternate living there. We also wanted to ensure that our child, who has special educational needs, was provided for as part of the divorce settlement.

A court-instructed trust was established in 2020 following a deeply personal and distressing incident involving my son as a premature baby. He was left with lifelong disabilities, and the trust was established to manage the award on his behalf – a standard practice in circumstances like ours.

To ensure he continued to have stability in the family home, which had been adapted for his needs, we agreed that our interest in the family home would be transferred to this court-instructed trust of which he is the sole beneficiary.

Some of the interest in our family home was transferred to the trust in 2023. In January 2025, I sold the remaining interest in the property to my son’s trust. This will give him the security of knowing the home is his, allowing him to continue to live in the home he feels safe in and grew up in. We transferred the property because it was in the best interests of our child. I acted as any parent would.

The sale of the property in Ashton-under-Lyne to the trust has not altered my family life. It remains my family home, as it has been for over a decade. It contains the majority of my possessions and it is where I am registered for most official and financial purposes ranging from credit cards to the dentist to the electoral roll. But most importantly, it is where my children live and have gone to school and now college, and where I regularly live while caring for them.

After I sold my stake to the trust, I bought a property in Hove in May 2025. Like many people, I used the lump sum from selling my stake in my Ashton home, which was the only property I owned and where my savings were, for the deposit on my new one. I obtained a mortgage to finance the rest. When purchasing the property my understanding, on advice from lawyers, was that my circumstances meant I was liable for the standard rate of stamp duty.

However, given the recent allegations in the press I have subsequently sought further advice from a leading tax counsel to review that position and to ensure I am fully compliant with all tax provisions. I have now been advised that although I did not own any other property at the time of the purchase, the application of complex deeming provisions which relate to my son’s trust gives rise to additional stamp duty liabilities. I acknowledge that due to my reliance on advice from lawyers which did not properly take account of these provisions, I did not pay the appropriate stamp duty at the time of the purchase. I am working with expert lawyers and with HMRC to resolve the matter and pay what is due.

The arrangements I have set out reflect the reality that family life is rarely straightforward, particularly when dealing with disability, divorce, and the complexities of ensuring your children’s long-term security. Every decision I have made has been guided by what I believe to be in my children’s best interests.

I deeply regret the error that has been made. I am committed to resolving this matter fully and providing the transparency that public service demands. It is for that reason I have today referred myself to the independent adviser on ministerial standards, and will provide him with my fullest cooperation and access to all the information he requires.

 Given that she also holds the post of Housing Secretary, is this acceptable? With stamp duty one of the most significant issues stopping people moving, can she remain in her role? Please share your thoughts on this breaking story.

7 responses from the Newspage community

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Riz Malik
Independent Financial Adviser at R3 Wealth
Today, we add the Deputy PM's resignation to this list as well as that of the Chancellor. There is no way she can stay, given her position as Housing Secretary. We expect our politicians to set the standard, but once again, they have tried to protect their own pockets. Will they give the same grace to others? If the government can't get stamp duty right, how do they expect the rest of us? Angela has to go.
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Ken James
Director at Contractor Mortgage Services
Angela Rayner has openly acknowledged that she should have paid more stamp duty on her recent flat purchase, attributing the error to incorrect tax advice. Unpopular as this is, before we nail her to the mast, should we not also take in the whole picture of her situation and consider whether this could have been an oversight brought about by poor advice rather than her wish to avoid a tax bill? Stamp duty can be complex, particularly when family and housing situations involve multiple considerations. For many people, navigating these rules is far from straightforward, and this case highlights the importance of clear guidance and professional support. By speaking up and addressing the matter directly, Angela Rayner demonstrates that even those in high office are not immune to the challenges of our tax system – and that owning up when mistakes happen is always the right thing to do.
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Harry Goodliffe
Director at HTG Mortgages
This isn’t just a minor admin slip, it’s the Housing Secretary getting stamp duty wrong. If the person in charge of housing can’t navigate the rules, what hope does the average first-time buyer have? Stamp duty is already one of the biggest walls stopping people from moving, and this just highlights how overly-complicated and confusing it has become. To her credit, Angela Rayner has admitted the mistake and is paying up, but politically, it’s a rough look. If she wants to stay credible in her role, she’ll need to show she understands the system and push for reform.
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Dariusz Karpowicz
Director at Albion Financial Advice
When the Deputy PM can't navigate stamp duty correctly, it rather begs the question of how ordinary homebuyers are expected to manage. This latest blunder adds to a mounting catalogue of errors and omissions that suggests the government has lost its way entirely, delivering precious little in terms of coherent direction or sound decisions.
If politicians expect public trust whilst setting housing policy, they must demonstrate they can follow the very rules they oversee. Rayner's position has become untenable - resignation would restore some credibility to a government that desperately needs to show it can get the basics right before tackling the nation's bigger challenges.
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Michelle Lawson
Director at Lawson Financial
Another non-shock shock from Labour. Most people knew she had ducked and dived and she is only sorry that she got caught out. This also further shows the complexity and misuse of the system and the challenges that other households have so, as deputy PM and Housing Secretary, is she going to look to make things simpler for 'families such as hers' and other families in the UK to move or adapt? Most of the nation abides by the rules and pays their taxes and it is a smack in the face in a cost of living crisis and threatened tax rises for the public that those in power feel the need to try and cut corners. Cutting corners means you eventually go round and round in circles- this is what has happened and it has all come out in the wash as expected. Will this now rinse Rayner out of her position?
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Rohit Kohli
Director at The Mortgage Stop
It’s not enough for Angela Rayner to say she relied on bad advice. As Housing Secretary and Deputy PM, she is expected to understand the rules that ordinary buyers have no choice but to comply with. For days she allowed speculation before admitting what most property professionals suspected from the start - that more stamp duty was due. What makes this worse is her record in opposition: she repeatedly attacked others for tax arrangements that were legal but unpopular. She cannot now plead complexity when caught in a similar situation. By her own standards, her position is untenable.
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Ben Perks
Managing Director at Orchard Financial Advisers
It’s not a good look for a Labour Party who are struggling with public trust or favour.
At its core, this is disgusting. Whilst I sympathise with many aspects of her story in the statement, if a normal family had these issues and tried to flout the Stamp Duty Rules the tax man would be all over them regardless.