Angela Rayner has added an £800,000 seaside apartment to her burgeoning property empire – at a time when her department is cracking down on second-home owners.
The Housing Secretary’s new ‘holiday home’ in Hove is in addition to the £650,000 house she owns in her constituency and a three-bedroom grace-and-favour flat in Admiralty House – prompting the Tories last night to demand that she ‘come clean’ about her council tax arrangements.
It comes as Ms Rayner’s department has started levying an extra 100 per cent council tax chargeon second homes.
The measure, inherited from the last Tory government, is in response to complaints that locals are being frozen out of the housing market in popular tourist destinations – such as Hove.
The Cabinet minister became known as ‘Two Homes Rayner’ last year after The Mail On Sunday revealed that she had shuttled between two right-to-buy council properties early in her marriage. It was claimed that she rented out her house while living in her then husband’s property.
It also coincides with moves by Chancellor Rachel Reeves to hit the middle classes with new property taxes in the autumn Budget.
As part of the Treasury’s desperate effort to balance the books, Ms Rayner is considering plans to increase council tax bills in affluent areas by £380 per year to divert funds to deprived parts of the country.
Last week, the Deputy Prime Minister was pictured drinking a giant glass of rosé on the beach by her new property, wrapped in a pink and camouflage Dryrobe.
Angela Rayner has added an £800,000 seaside apartment to her burgeoning property empire
Angela Rayner is seen drinking wine on Hove beach at 6pm Tuesday evening
The apartment’s large living room boasts sweeping views of Hove’s seafront
Neighbours – who said Ms Rayner had purchased the three-bedroom flat in May for use as a holiday home – have spotted her strolling around the area with her on-off partner, Sam Tarry.
When she entered the Government, Ms Rayner designated her Ashton-under-Lyne constituency home as her ‘primary residence’, and her pre-Admiralty home – a rented London flat – as her second home.
That allowed her to claim back the £1,621 council tax bill on the London flat from the taxpayer as one of the housing costs reimbursed by Commons authorities.
She has declined to say if she is still designating Ashton as her primary residence.
If she is, then the £2,034 council tax bill for Admiralty House doubles to a whopping £4,068 if classed as a second home.
The Brighton property is Band D, meaning it attracts a basic £2,455 bill for two people or £1,841 for single occupancy – which also doubles if it is classed as a second home.
Shadow Housing Secretary James Cleverly accused Ms Rayner of refusing to answer Parliamentary questions about her living arrangements.
‘Angela Rayner is responsible for housing policy, yet she won’t even be straight about her own,’ he said.
‘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’s dodged those questions.
Image shows the living room in Angela Rayner’s new property
Ms Rayner is seen arriving in Downing Street to attend the weekly Cabinet meeting in London on July 1
Pictured: One of the bedrooms in Angela Rayner’s new home
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner arrives in Downing Street, London, on July 8
Pictured: The kitchen featuring white cupboards and black surface tops
‘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’s hiked taxes on family homes across the country.
‘If she’s not prepared to be open about her own affairs while taxing everyone else, the public will wonder what she has to hide.’
Ms Rayner’s large, airy flat is located on the second floor of an elegant Victorian terrace that leads down to the beach and is made up of two flats converted into one.
It has its own balcony and sash windows that look out onto the sea and a neatly maintained green.
One resident said: ‘Everybody knows Angela has moved into our block. I’ve seen her recently and she was sipping a coffee while leaving the building with her entourage.
‘She’s got the biggest and nicest flat in the block and appears to be using it as a holiday home for short breaks because she’s not there very often. It’s a fantastic flat that has great views of the sea.’
Another neighbour said: ‘She has her own security team but they don’t make a big fuss and you wouldn’t notice them. She’s only at the flat on the odd weekend and most of the time doesn’t appear to stay for very long.’
Ms Rayner made her relationship with Mr Tarry official in March by declaring him as her partner in the Register of Ministers’ Interests.
Pictured: Admiralty House in Westminster, central London
Pictured: Ms Rayner’s £650,000 four-bedroom, Ashton-under-Lyne home
The apartment’s large living room boasts sweeping views of Hove’s seafront
Mr Tarry, a former adviser to Jeremy Corbyn, was at the centre of controversy when it was revealed in 2016 that he was working as a councillor in London’s East End, despite living with his then wife in Brighton.
Last week, the MoS reported that she had been accused of using national security laws to disguise the fact that she has the choice of three bathrooms in her taxpayer-funded grace-and-favour home.
Her officials refused to answer a Parliamentary question about her London residence in Admiralty House ‘for security and operational reasons’.
However, the Tories discovered through Freedom of Information laws that she enjoys the use of three bedrooms and three bathrooms.
A source close to Ms Rayner said: ‘Angela’s work means that she’s often had to be in and around London for over a decade now,but had always rented a flat for that purpose.’
