Angela Rayner buys £700k THIRD home 'while hiking taxes on family homes'

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has reportedly splashed £700k on a luxury seaside apartment, making it the third home she has added to her property portfolio.

The Housing Secretary purchased the swish new pad in Brighton earlier this year, which now joins her two residences, her primary home in Ashton-Under-Lyne and a grace-and-favour ministerial apartment in Westminster, reports The Sun.

The luxury pad, which boasts three bedrooms set her back over £700,000 in total, a far cry from the Ashton-Under-Lyne home she purchased in 2016 for just £375,000 - although the value of the latter has since skyrocketed to £650,000.

Mr.Rayner's latest home couldn't have come at a more precarious time for the Labour deputy, as she is currently hammering second home owners while also planning council tax rises for many more.

On Friday night, Shadow Housing Secretary James Cleverley directly called out his political rival as he said: "Angela Rayner is responsible for housing policy, yet she won't even be straight about her own.

"Time and again she's been asked to declare exactly what properties she owns and where she pays council tax, and time and again she has dodged those questions.

"Now we find out she's got three homes. We've done everything possible to get answers, but she still refuses to come clean.

"That matters, because this is the same Deputy Prime Minister who has hiked taxes on family homes across the country.

"If she's not prepared to be open about her own affairs while taxing everyone else heavily, the public will wonder what she has to hide."

According to land registry records, her latest three-bedroom period property was bought with a six-figure mortgage earlier this year, with the Deputy PM already having celebrated the purchase by hosting a housewarming soiree with her partner former-left wing MP Sam Tarry.

Neighbours had reportedly seen him moving furniture into the property, while locals had also reported seeing officers from the Met Police's Royalty and Specialist Protection Command, which guards senior politicians, accompanying Ms Rayner - a service funded by taxpayers.

Located on a "highly sought after" street near to the popular seaside city, period properties nearby have been put on the market for £3.5million.

It is the third place she has called home in less than a year, and follows on from her move into a grace-and-favour flat in Grade 1 listed Admiralty House last December.

The luxury apartment, paid for by public funds, boasts three bedrooms, three bathrooms and overlooks Trafalgar Square. It also previously housed two political heavyweights,Sir Winston Churchill and former Deputy PM John Prescott.

It is also just an hour's train journey away from her new Brighton based home.

Ms.Rayner's decision to purchase yet another home has raised some eyebrows among the public and her political peers alike, as it comes just one year on since she publicly derided then-chancellor Jeremy Hunt over his "vast property empire" before the 2024 general election.

Last year, the housing secretary also found herself in hot water over claims she breached electoral law in relation to her former home in Stockport.There were also allegations she had falsely received a single-occupancy council tax discount and failed to pay capital gains tax.

However following a thorough police probe into the matter, no wrongdoing was identified and no action was taken against her.

Even despite this, the Tories have still been quick to point the finger at Ms.Rayner and accused her of not being clear about her council tax arrangements, claiming she has "flipped" her primary residence to avoid the higher rate of a second home premium.

In her most recent expenses declaration, she classified her property in her Ashton-under-Lyne as her main residence, this means her Westminster home at Admiralty house would be hit with a 'second home' penalty and her council tax bill would increase to more than £4,000.

However, if she declared the Admiralty House as her primary residence, and claimed her single person discount for living there, her bill would be slashed to just £1525, a saving of more than £2500.

Addressing the public in a speech back in 2023, Ms Rayner said: "Holding any position in public life should mean upholding the highest standards of ethics and integrity. What I have laid out today will put the right system in place to ensure accountability and transparency across government."

It was these comments that prompted the former shadow housing secretary Kevin Hollinrake to quiz Ms.Rayner about her council tax arrangements back in May.

But Government minister Jim McMahon replied to their query: "Council tax arrangements for Admiralty House are as has been the case for successive governments and ministers occupying it as an official residence. The Deputy PM's council tax responsibility is properly discharged."