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UK: Housing secretary and deputy prime minister Angela Rayner has resigned over failing to pay enough stamp duty on a holiday home and breaking the ministerial code.
She has also resigned as deputy leader of the Labour Party. Rayner referred herself to the independent ethics adviser Laurie Magnus after admitting to not paying enough stamp duty on her £800,000 seaside flat in Hove, Sussex. The adviser’s report has found that Rayner broke the ministerial code.
In a letter to the PM, published today, Magnus wrote that he believed Rayner had “acted with integrity and with a dedicated and exemplary commitment to public service”, but that her failure to settle her stamp duty land tax liability at the correct level meant she cannot be considered to have met the “highest possible standards of proper conduct” as set out in the ministerial code.
Rayner has claimed that the legal advice she initially received about the property was inaccurate due to confusion over a trust set up for her disabled son. However, Magnus’s report said that the legal advice Rayner received had acknowledged that it did not constitute expert tax advice and recommended that specific tax advice be obtained.
In her resignation letter to PM Keir Starmer, Rayner said: “I have long believed that people who serve the British public in government must always observe the highest standards, and while the Independent Adviser has concluded that I acted in good faith and with honesty and integrity throughout, I accept that I did not meet the highest standards in relation to my recent property purchase.
“I deeply regret my decision to not seek additional specialist tax advice given both my position as Housing Secretary and my complex family arrangements. I take full responsibility for this error. I would like to take this opportunity to repeat that it was never my intention to do anything other than pay the right amount,” she added.
Starmer said that he was “very sad” that Rayner’s time as deputy prime minister and housing secretary had “ended in this way”. He added that while she would no longer be in government, she would “remain a major figure in our party”.
Commenting on her potential replacement as housing minister, Lawrence Turner, director of planning consultants Boyer, said: “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.”
“For plan-making, continuity here is critical. Local authorities must receive clear assurance from government that the 30-month local plan timetable remains in place and better guidance on when and how to prepare their new Plans. Without this, plan-making risks stalling at the precise moment when momentum is most needed. Secondly, the new SoS must act swiftly to remove two major barriers to housing delivery: nutrient neutrality and water scarcity. While the Nature Restoration Fund announcements were a welcome start, they must be accelerated to provide certainty for developers and local authorities and to have any real impact.”
“Thirdly, Planning departments need proper resourcing. Councils should be allowed to retain 100 per cent of planning fees, enabling investment in staffing and the recruitment of new planners to speed up decision-making. In addition, greater urgency is needed behind the delivery of new towns and major growth areas. These strategic projects offer the scale of housing and infrastructure that piecemeal development cannot achieve, but they require more work to increase momentum through direct government support, infrastructure investment, and clear direction to unlock land quickly.”
Highlights:
• UK housing secretary and deputy PM Angela Rayner has resigned after paying insufficient council tax on the purchase of a holiday home in Hove
• She has also resigned as deputy leader of the Labour Party
• “I take full responsibility for this error. I would like to take this opportunity to repeat that it was never my intention to do anything other than pay the right amount,” said Rayner
