Chancellor tight-lipped over his properties after capital gains cut and Rayner jibe

Jeremy Hunt has promised to voluntarily pay more capital gains tax on his properties so that he does not benefit from a tax cut he introduced.

- Eleni Courea 

The chancellor refused to disclose how many houses he owned but said he would pay a higher tax rate on any proceeds from selling his property.

Asked on ITV's Peston programme on Wednesday night how many houses he had, Hunt said: "These are personal questions." When announcing a capital gains tax cut in the budget on Wednesday, Hunt aimed a jibe at Labour's deputy leader, Angela Rayner, who has faced questions about the sale of her former council house. "I see the deputy leader of the Labour party paying close attention, given her multiple dwellings," he said.

Hunt cut the rate of capital gains tax paid by higher-rate taxpayers when selling second homes from 28% to 24%.

Asked whether he himself would benefit from this, Hunt told Peston: "In fact I won't benefit from the CGT change because I took that decision and I have decided that, when it comes to the properties I own, it would be wrong to benefit from a direct decision like that, so I will pay tax at the previous rate." He confirmed that he would voluntarily pay 28% capital gains tax if he sold one of his properties.