Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister and housing secretary, is under renewed pressure after it emerged she relied on a small high-street conveyancing firm to handle the purchase of her £800,000 flat in Hove, East Sussex, which is now at the centre of a major tax controversy.
According to legal documents seen by the Guardian, Rayner instructed Verrico & Associates, a family-run practice based in Herne Bay, Kent, to complete the transaction. The firm, run by Joanna Verrico and her three daughters, has a small team of four directors and two legal secretaries.
Rayner has admitted she mistakenly paid a lower rate of stamp duty—believed to be around £30,000—when acquiring the property. She explained she had acted on legal advice at the time, believing she was eligible for the reduced rate because she did not own another home. However, her family residence in Greater Manchester is held in trust under her son’s name, which for stamp duty purposes counts as her property.
On Wednesday, Rayner confirmed she later sought advice from King’s Counsel Jonathan Peacock, a senior tax barrister with nearly 25 years’ experience, who advised her that she had in fact underpaid. Following this opinion, she referred herself to the prime minister’s independent adviser on ministerial standards, Laurie Magnus, and began engaging with HMRC to settle the shortfall.
A Downing Street spokesperson stated: “The final legal opinion was received by the deputy prime minister on Wednesday morning, at which point she immediately took steps to refer herself to the independent adviser, and begin the process of engaging with HMRC.”
It is understood that Peacock was commissioned last Friday, produced a draft opinion on Monday, and delivered his final advice midweek. Shortly afterwards, Rayner acknowledged the error publicly and confirmed she would cooperate fully with both Magnus and HMRC. Magnus is expected to publish his findings imminently, with the outcome likely to decide Rayner’s political future.
The situation has intensified scrutiny of Rayner’s choice of legal advisers. Experts note that smaller high-street practices may not always have the specialist expertise required for complex property and trust law matters. While she is believed to have consulted Verrico & Associates as well as two trust law experts, the exact nature of the advice she received remains unclear.
Despite mounting pressure, Rayner has received strong backing from senior Labour figures. Chancellor Rachel Reeves commented on Thursday: “I have full confidence in Angela Rayner. She’s a good friend and a colleague. She has accepted the right stamp duty wasn’t paid. That was an error, that was a mistake. She is working hard now to rectify that, in contact with HMRC, to make sure that the correct tax is paid.”
Meanwhile, tensions around the row escalated after Rayner’s Hove property was defaced with graffiti reading “tax evader” late on Wednesday night, an act her spokesperson described as “unjustifiable and beyond the pale.”
This development comes as the deputy prime minister battles to defend her integrity and political standing, with the results of the inquiry set to play a decisive role in shaping her future.
