Angela Rayner has been reappointed as housing secretary just months after resigning over a stamp duty scandal, a move that property experts have branded a 'slap in the face' to honest taxpayers. New Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced the reappointment yesterday, purging allies of former leader Keir Starmer from his top team in the process.
Industry Backlash Over Reappointment
Craig Fish, director at Lodestone Mortgages, told Newspage: 'This feels like a slap in the face to anyone who plays by the rules. She resigned over an underpaid stamp duty bill on her own home, then gets handed back the exact department that writes housing and stamp duty policy.'
Anita Wright of Ribble Wealth Management described the appointment as 'moral hazard in a sash and rosette,' adding: 'The problem isn't that people make mistakes, it's that at the top, mistakes have stopped costing anything.'
Harvey Dhillon of Zmartly warned that ordinary taxpayers face brutal penalties for similar errors, stating: 'Whatever you think of the politics, that is a two-tier message about tax.' Rohit Kohli of The Mortgage Stop said: 'This looks like loyalty being rewarded, not competence being recognised.'
Background of the Stamp Duty Scandal
Rayner was forced to quit as deputy prime minister and housing secretary last September after admitting she underpaid stamp duty on her £800,000 property in Hove. She settled the debt with HMRC in May this year, paying £40,000 in unpaid stamp duty after an investigation. Now, barely ten months later, she returns to lead the department responsible for housing and stamp duty policy.
Rayner's Defense and Criticism
The new housing chief has insisted she was 'exonerated' by HMRC and always acted 'in good faith.' However, critics argue that the taxman's verdict counts for little when the woman who dodged stamp duty is once again writing Britain's stamp duty rules.
