Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is facing renewed questions about how his partner paid for an £885,000 house in his Clacton constituency after a BBC investigation found no clear evidence to support his explanation that the purchase was financed by her family.
The four-bedroom property in Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, was bought on 11 November last year and is registered in the name of Laure Ferrari, who is listed on Land Registry documents as the sole legal owner. Farage has repeatedly denied contributing to the purchase, telling media he did not lend money to Ferrari and that she bought the home with her own funds. He has said she comes from a “very successful French family” and “can afford it herself.”
The BBC said it examined French property and company records and was unable to find evidence that Ferrari’s parents have the means to make a substantial gift towards the purchase. Her parents are recorded as co-owners of a flat in a Strasbourg suburb worth around €350,000 (£302,000) and of former business premises that are let. The investigation found that the haulage company once run by her father was liquidated in 2020 and that a local agent estimated the rented premises would generate no more than about €8,000–€9,000 a month.
Ferrari, 45, met Farage in the late 2000s when she was working as a waitress, and has been involved in several small businesses. She previously ran a clothes shop with a bank loan that later failed and has been director of a consultancy, now called Baxter Laois Limited, which is the registered owner of Farage’s gin brand. The company’s latest accounts showed limited activity, around £1,000 in assets and more than £10,000 owed to creditors; a petition to wind up the company was filed in August and was withdrawn this week.
The ownership of the Frinton-on-Sea property has prompted scrutiny because if Farage had been an owner it would have attracted an additional stamp duty surcharge of £44,250 for a second home. Farage owns his former marital home in Kent and two investment properties in the county through his company Thorn in the Side, and he declares ownership of a Surrey property on the House of Commons register of interests.
Farage’s solicitors, Grosvenor Law, said they had received written advice from a leading tax King’s Counsel concluding that there had been no underpayment of Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT), that SDLT was properly calculated and that there was no basis to suggest improper avoidance or evasion of tax in relation to the purchase. The firm does not represent Ferrari and the BBC reported the advice was obtained recently rather than at the time of the purchase.
Farage’s office reiterated that Ferrari is the “sole legal and beneficial owner of the property” and that it “belongs solely to Laure and was purchased with funds which belong to her. All taxes were properly paid. Nigel has no financial interest in the property whatsoever.” A spokesman did not say whether funds used to buy the property had at any stage come from Farage, or why specialist tax advice had been sought if he was not involved in the transaction.
Legal experts and tax lawyers say it is lawful for an unmarried partner to receive funds from another person and to buy property in their own name without incurring extra SDLT. But the situation has drawn political criticism because Farage was among those who publicly criticised Labour’s former deputy leader Angela Rayner this month over a separate second‑home stamp duty controversy, saying on social media: “You can't be housing secretary and avoid £40,000 pounds' worth of stamp duty. It's just as simple as that.” He also criticised Labour at his party conference, saying the matter “screams of entitlement.”
Labour Party chair Anna Turley said there were “far too many unanswered questions” and called on Farage to disclose whether he financially contributed to the purchase or has any financial interest in the property. “It’s the least the British public would expect,” she said.
Farage’s critics have argued that if he did effectively use his funds to buy the house in Ferrari’s name to avoid the additional stamp duty, it would amount to hypocrisy after his public comments about other politicians’ tax affairs. Farage has denied any wrongdoing and his lawyers’ statement asserted that all taxes were paid correctly.
The property was bought without a mortgage, Land Registry records show, and Ferrari used a London-based conveyancing firm for the purchase. The BBC said it had not found evidence to corroborate Farage’s claim that Ferrari’s family provided significant financial support for the purchase.
The questions come as the MP settles into the constituency he won at last year’s general election. His decision to obtain expert tax advice has not removed calls from political opponents for fuller disclosure about the source of funds used to buy the home. Farage’s team has not provided documents showing the origin of the purchase funds, and it remains unclear whether further financial or legal records will be made public or reviewed by authorities.
The BBC’s reporting prompted renewed demands from opponents for transparency. Farage’s office has so far declined to release bank or conveyancing records that would demonstrate the origin of the funds used to purchase the house. The Crown Prosecution Service and HM Revenue & Customs do not comment on individual cases in response to media reports.
As of Thursday, no formal inquiry or enforcement action relating to the purchase had been announced publicly, and Farage continues to deny any financial involvement in the transaction beyond his relationship with Ferrari.
