The Daily Telegraph this morning claims that Housing Secretary Angela Rayner saved £40,000 in stamp duty on her new seaside flat after telling tax authorities it was her main home.

Rayner, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, is reported to have removed her name from the deeds of her house in Greater Manchester a few weeks before buying the seaside flat in Hove for around £800,000.

Her tax-saving tactic is entirely legal.

The move saved Rayner paying £70,000 in stamp duty, which would have been applicable if Hove had officially been her second home.

But the Telegraph goes on to say there remains confusion over the ownership arrangements of Rayner because “she has told Tameside council in Greater Manchester that her constituency home in Ashton-under-Lyme is her primary residence and informed Brighton and Hove council that her Hove apartment is a second home for council tax purposes.”

You can see the full Telegraph article here although for many readers it may be behind a pay wall: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/08/28/angela-rayner-dodges-40000-stamp-duty/