Angela Rayner defends 'third home' as vicious row erupts over £700,000 seaside apartment

Angela Rayner has defended her purchase of a flat in Hove, East Sussex as the row about her third residence continues. The Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary has been accused of "hypocrisy" by purchasing the £700,000 property after the Treasury introduced a premium on council tax in April to allow local authorities to double levies on second homes.

The bill, introduced in 2023 by then Conservative Housing Minister Michael Gove, was designed to limit the practise of second home ownership which was having a negative impact on the availability of affordable housing in popular tourist hotspots. The property will become the third that Ms Rayner has access to, with the influential Labour figure already owning a primary residence in her constituency Ashton-under-Lyne and having use of her ministerial apartment in Admiralty House, Central London.

A government spokesperson confirmed that Ms Rayner pays the council tax for her primary residence in full. Until the end of last year, Ms Rayner had also rented a flat in Central London for which she claimed back the £1,621 council tax bill from the taxpayer, as is standard practise for MPs.

Ms Rayner stopped renting the flat after being given access to Admiralty House as a result of her position in the cabinet.

It is understood that Ms Rayner's new apartment is liable for the council tax premium and that she will pay the bill in full out of her own pocket.

Despite this her opposite number Shadow Housing Minister James Cleverly has called on Ms Rayner to be more transparent with her housing and tax arrangements.

He told the Times: "She has admitted to paying the premium on her flat, but she refuses to say whether she has been paying the second-homes premium on Admiralty House since it came into force in April.

"Nor will she confirm whether she has ever claimed a single-person discount there.

"For months, she has dodged correspondence and evaded parliamentary questions. "Only now, under pressure, has she been forced to set out part of the picture.

But until she gives full and consistent answers, the public will be left wondering what exactly she has been trying to hide.

"If Labour wants to tax family homes more than ever, the very least the public deserves is transparency from the minister in charge. Right now, it looks like one rule for Angela Rayner and another for everyone else."

A Labour source told The Times: "The second homes premium was introduced by the Tory government while James Cleverly was home secretary, and he supported it at every stage. Angela takes her council tax obligations seriously and she meets them in full."