1. Where does she actually live?
Rayner spends time in three properties: a constituency home in Ashton-under-Lyne, a grace-and-favour apartment in Admiralty House on Whitehall, and a new flat in Hove.
When she bought the flat in Hove in May, she classed it as her only property, allowing her to pay an estimated £30,000 in stamp duty rather than the higher rate of £70,000.
The problem with this is that she has separately listed her constituency home as her primary property, in a move which allowed her to avoid paying about £2,000 a year in council tax on her grace-and-favour apartment in London.
The Ashton home has now been put fully into a trust, allowing her to remove her name from the deeds and buy the Hove flat. But she still spends a lot of her time in that house, given her children live there and it is the only property out of the three which is in her constituency.
2. Why did she put the Ashton house in a trust?
The Mail on Sunday revealed over the weekend that Rayner had put her Greater Manchester house partly in a trust in 2023, before fully selling up this year. The trust was administered by Shoosmiths, a law firm which has a private wealth team to help rich clients manage their financial affairs.
Some have suggested Rayner used a trust to avoid her children paying inheritance tax when she dies. However, experts say that if she is living there at the time of her death, they will still have to pay the tax, regardless of whether it is held in trust. That implies there may have been non-tax reasons to choose a trust, including making sure that none of her children can sell their share in the house without the agreement of the others.
It may be significant however that at the time the property was put in trust, its value was listed at £650,000. If it had been a pound higher, Rayner would have had to pay an inheritance tax charge at that point.
3. Has she broken any tax laws?
Most tax experts agree with Rayner’s allies, who insist she has not broken any actual rules. There is nothing wrong, for example, with listing one property as a primary residence for council tax purposes but another for stamp duty purposes.
Some however, believe this constitutes a loophole which Rayner has successfully exploited. “I have long said we should allow HMRC to communicate with councils so they can be consistent in their tax treatment of properties,” said Heather Powell, a partner at the accountant Blick Rothenberg.
But some say tax inspectors could still revisit the question of whether Rayner should have paid more stamp duty on the Hove flat.
“Simply removing your name from a deed is not enough to persuade the Revenue that that is not your primary property,” said Henry Pryor, a property agent. “If you are still living at that property, Revenue could deem your new one a secondary property for stamp duty purposes.”
4. Why are her arrangements so complicated?
Allies say Rayner’s family life makes her finances more complex than most. She had a child aged 16 with her then partner, Neil Batty, but the relationship did not last. She then married Mark Rayner, a trade union official, in 2010, and the couple had two sons.
She and Rayner split in 2020 and are understood to have divorced in 2023, which was when they put the Ashton house into a trust, of which both served as trustees. She is now understood to alternate in the house with Mark, while their children remain there permanently.
More recently Rayner has entered a relationship with Sam Tarry, the former Labour MP for Ilford South. The couple are reported to have spent time together at the Hove flat.
Others however point out that many of her property decisions have also had the impact of minimising tax. “These arrangements are probably legal, but Mr and Mrs Average don’t do it – they can’t afford it,” said Powell.
5. How is Labour planning to change property taxes in future?
One reason the revelations have particular resonance is that they come just as Rachel Reeves looks for ways to repair her fiscal black hole, with property taxes reported to be in her crosshairs.
The chancellor is reported to be looking at ways to tax second homes more, whether that is through a replacement to stamp duty, or more likely, higher rates of capital gains tax.
Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, spent Monday trying to highlight exactly that dichotomy, talking to homeowners in Reigate about what she believes the chancellor will announce at her budget later this year.
That being said, Rayner did receive backing from an unexpected quarter last week, when the Reform UK leader insisted the row was confected. “This whole sort of hair-shirt approach – most of the press want politicians in sackcloth and ashes, would like all of us to be vegan and give up drinking,” said Nigel Farage. “Well, it’s not happening here.”
