Nigel Farage is facing questions over how his partner was able to afford a £885,000 property in Clacton.
This week, the Reform UK leader admitted he doesn’t actually own a house in his parliamentary constituency of Clacton, despite having previously claimed he did.
In an interview with Sky News, Farage said he misspoke last November when he said he had “bought a house in Clacton.”
In fact, he revealed it was his long-term partner Laure Ferrari who had purchased the property, telling Sky News: “I should, I should have said ‘we’. All right? My partner bought it, so what?”
“All right. I shouldn’t have said ‘we’. I should have said ‘we’. It’s her money. It’s her asset. I own none of it. But I just happen to spend some time there.”
Because the property was under Ferrari’s name, it meant Farage had not avoided more than £44,000 in additional stamp duty on the house. Because Farage already owns other properties, £44,250 would have been due if he was an owner of the Clacton property because a stamp duty surcharge for second home purchase would have been required.
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The politician said Ferrari had bought the house without a mortgage because she comes from a wealthy French family.
However, a new BBC investigation has now raised doubts over this explanation. An examination of French property and company records by BBC News has been unable to find any evidence that Ferrari’s parents are wealthy enough to have significantly financially supported her in the purchase of the Clacton property.
This raises the possibility that Ferrari actually bought the home with the financial help of Farage, something he has denied.
If this was the case, it would be legal for his partner to use them to buy the property in her name and pay the lower rate of stamp duty.
But it would likely prompt more accusations of hypocrisy towards Farage over his tax affairs, after he attacked Angela Rayner for avoiding stamp duty on her Sussex property, something she resigned from government over.
Farage has stated his partner was the sole legal and beneficial owner of the property.
The BBC’s investigation found that Ferrari’s parents, Bertrand and Chantal, live in a flat worth around 350,000 euros (£302,000) in a Strasbourg suburb. The business ventures of the couple and their two daughters all don’t seem to have been successful enough to generate the supposed family wealth Farage claimed Ferrari’s family had.
Farage has said he sought specialist tax advice on the Clacton property purchase, despite having insisted he wasn’t involved in the transaction. He has not explained why he sought this advice.
Speaking at the Reform party conference last Friday after Rayner’s resignation, Farage said the saga “screams of entitlement.”
He continued: “It screams to a government that, despite all the promises that this would be a new different kind of politics, is as bad, if not worse, than the one that went before.”
In a post on social media, he wrote: “You can’t be housing secretary and avoid £40,000 pounds’ worth of stamp duty. It’s just as simple as that.”
As questions continue to swirl over his Clacton property, Labour Party chair Anna Turley said: “There are now far too many unanswered questions about the house he stays in while in Clacton.
“He must urgently come clean with the public as to whether he financially contributed towards the purchase of this property or if he has any financial interest in it.
“Misleading the public for political gain about buying a constituency home is appalling in itself.
“But if he deliberately put in place this arrangement to avoid paying his fair share of tax that would be even worse.
“Farage has had plenty to say about other people’s tax affairs recently, so it’s only right that he provides evidence to prove he has told the full story here. It’s the least the British public would expect.”