Angela Rayner has made headlines for putting down a significant £150,000 deposit on a new luxury seaside home, amidst growing criticism regarding her property transactions.

This recent development follows criticism directed at the Deputy Prime Minister by a Labour MP concerning her contentious property dealings, which involve her £800,000 apartment in East Sussex.

Land Registry documents also show that she took out a £650,000 mortgage with Natwest in May on the three-bedroom home. 

Mortgage experts said that putting down a 25 per cent deposit meant she was able to benefit from more favourable interest rates, The Sun reported. 

Ms. Rayner is currently facing scrutiny over allegations that she avoided £40,000 in stamp duty on the Hove property by declaring it as her primary residence to the tax authorities.

Graham Stringer, the MP for Blackley and Middleton South, commented on the situation, stating that the ‘optics’ of Ms. Rayner’s actions are unfavorable, especially as the Government gears up for the autumn Budget.

During an interview with Times Radio, Mr. Stringer remarked, ‘I’m unaware if any rules have been breached. It is preferable for ministers to be open and to clarify their financial transactions.’

He added it that it looked as if Ms Rayner was ‘manipulating the tax system’ for her benefit. 

‘We all have a right to adjust our financial affairs in our own interest. But the optics of it, just before the Chancellor is going to do a Budget, doesn’t look good’, he added. 

It is understood Ms Rayner’s primary residence remains her family home in Greater Manchester, but that following her divorce she ceased to own a stake in the property. 

This meant she was able to avoid the higher rate of stamp duty that would have been applied when buying the Hove flat if it had been classified as a second home, The Telegraph reported. 

She is thought to have paid around £30,000 in stamp duty on the Hove apartment, instead of £70,000.

The Conservatives lodged a formal request for an investigation into whether the Deputy PM broke the ministerial code in her purchase of her £800,000 second home.

But she would have had to pay £70,000 if the flat had been considered a second home because of a tax regime designed to discourage holiday home purchases.

A spokesman for Ms Rayner said she had paid her taxes in full and done nothing wrong. 

However questions remain about how she funded the luxurious apartment in Hove, where she is actually living and where she should pay council tax. 

Former Tory Home Secretary Dame Priti Patel branded Ms Rayner ‘a hypocrite and a freeloader’, adding: ‘She wants everyone else to pay higher taxes on family homes but doesn’t want to pay it herself.’

In a letter to the Prime Minister’s independent adviser on ministerial interests, Sir Laurie Magnus, the Conservatives called for an inquiry into whether Ms Rayner had broken the ministerial code.

Tory Party chairman Kevin Hollinrake said Ms Rayner should ‘come clean on the litany of accusations of tax avoidance – be it stamp duty, council tax or inheritance tax’.

He asked: ‘What implications does putting her Ashton-under-Lyne house into a trust have for inheritance tax?

‘Tax avoidance may be entirely lawful – and many families will rightly want to minimise their inheritance tax to hand over as much as possible to their children and grandchildren, especially in the face of Labour’s cruel family farms and family business taxes.

‘But it’s the height of hypocrisy for a Labour politician who wants to hike property taxes for everyone else, and lectured others on tax avoidance, to appear to be doing the very same.

‘Ms Rayner needs to instruct the Land Registry to place all the documents in the public domain, including publishing the declaration of trust made in 2023 and all subsequent changes. 

‘The independent adviser on ministerial standards should also investigate this matter as part of his sleaze inquiry.’

Mr Hollinrake has already written to the adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus, calling for him to investigate Ms Rayner’s tax affairs.

It has been reported that Ms Reeves is examining ways to raise more money from inheritance tax, including a cap on how much someone can donate as part of their tax planning. 

This would mean that any large sums handed over decades before death – such as a contribution towards a child’s property deposit – would count as part of an estate for tax purposes.

Pensions minister Torsten Bell, who is helping draft the Budget, has previously called for radical reforms to stamp duty.

The large, airy coastal flat is located on the second floor of an elegant Victorian terrace and consists of two flats converted into one. It has its own balcony, sash windows that look out onto the sea and a neatly maintained green.

Pictures inside the property show a smart kitchen featuring marble-style countertops, a generously sized master bedroom and a cosy living area crowned by a small crystal chandelier.

One of Ms Rayner’s new neighbours described her new home as ‘fantastic’. 

‘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,’ they said. 

‘It’s a fantastic flat that has great views of the sea.’

At just an hour by train from London, the apartment provides Ms Rayner with an alternative base to her grace-and-favour residence in Westminster – where she moved after leaving a rented flat in Vincent Square. 

This apartment is located in Admiralty House, a grade I-listed government building near Trafalgar Square and the former home of Sir Winston Churchill.

One of London’s most famous addresses, it was also where another Labour Deputy PM, John ‘Two Jags’ Prescott, conducted secret assignations with his lover Tracey Temple.

The landmark was built in the 18th century and overlooks both Whitehall and Horse Guards Parade. While the building is mainly private, it usually opens to the public during Open House London.

Ms Rayner bought her constituency home Ashton-under-Lyne in 2016 for £375,000, although it is now believed to have risen in value to £650,000.

A detached red-brick with a gable roof, the property is set inside a large front garden, with trees and hedges screening it off from the road. 

But neighbours say she is rarely at the property now she juggles her time between London and Hove.   

Before the Labour minister purchased the flat in Hove in May, an application was reportedly made to alter the ownership on the property.

If second home owners sell their property within a three-year grace period, they can claim back the surcharge.

However, there is no requirement which states Ms Rayner must own the house in Greater Manchester for it to be her main residence.

Her ex-husband Mark Rayner, who she is divorcing, lives in the property with their children.