The Rt Hon Angela Rayner MPShadow Deputy Prime Minister of the United KingdomShadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up Housing and CommunitiesHouse of CommonsLondonSW1A 0AA 26 February 2024Dear Ms Rayner.I am writing to you concerning issues arising from reports in the Mail on Sunday and DailyMail newspapers.It is reported that:• You purchased a house on Vicarage Road in 2007 using the Right to Buy scheme.• Neighbours say you moved out of the house in 2009 and into Lowndes Lane with yourthen husband.• Darren Bowen moved into Vicarage Road in 2009 but was registered to vote at LowndesLane along with your then husband.• You stated your address as Lowndes Lane in 2010 when re-registering the birth of yourchildren.• You remained on the electoral roll at Vicarage Road until 2015 when you sold the house.• The Vicarage Road property was sold at a profit of £48,000.I note that you have not disputed any of these claims.As you will no doubt know, you do not pay Capital Gains Tax when you sell your home if you have lived in it as your main home for all the time you have owned it and you have not letpart of it out. This is known as Private Residence Relief.I am sure that you agree there is a strong public interest in answering these very simplequestions:• Can you clarify which of the two addresses was your primary residence between 2009 and2015?• Why did you put your address down as Lowndes Lane in 2010 while remaining on theelectoral roll at Vicarage Road for a further five years?• Which specific property or properties were your sole or main residence over this period?At what point were properties “flipped”?
• Did you pay Capital Gains Tax on the sale of the Vicarage Road Property in 2015?• If not, was that because you claimed Private Residence Relief, in whole or in part, on thesale of Vicarage Road?These questions are strongly in the public interest, given your role as a member of theShadow Cabinet with responsibility for housing and local government policy, and given yourParty's policies on Right to Buy and on tax reliefs.I look forward to your response.Yours sincerely, Jonathan Gullis MP