Could a kitchen renovation come to Angela Rayner’s rescue?
If you’ve struggled to keep up with the saga over the deputy Labour leader’s council house, James Moore offers an easy explainer – and reveals how doing up the place before she sold it may put her in the clear
By now, you will have heard about Angela Rayner and her little local difficulty around whether or not she paid the right amount of tax on the sale of a property she once owned in Stockport before she became an MP. You’ll have heard all about it – shall we call it council housegate? – but, unless you’ve paid as close attention to the ins and outs as, say, journalists on right-wing newspapers, you may have struggled to comprehend what Labour’s deputy leader is alleged to have done wrong, allegations that she has denied.
It’s a twisty-turny tale but here’s the short version: while working as a local council care worker and official for Unison, Rayner bought the council house where she was living in Vicarage Road, Stockport. The purchase, in 2007, qualified for a 25 per cent discount under the “right-to-buy” scheme, so she paid £79,000 for it. I know, I know – given today’s house prices, that looks like witchcraft.
She subsequently sold it, in 2015, for £127,500, apparently netting a tidy profit of £48,500. (We’ll get to that.)
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies