Nigel Farage\u2019s partner, Laure Ferrari, has refused to confirm how she paid for a house in the Reform leader and MP\u2019s constituency of Clacton, adding \u201cthere\u2019s more than one way to pay for a house\u201d.<\/p>\n
In an interview with French publication Le Monde<\/a>, Ferrari was questioned over revelations in the Guardian that she had purchased a house in her name in Clacton after Farage had claimed to be the buyer.<\/p>\n Farage initially said the arrangement was for \u201csecurity\u201d reasons. Some months later, he told reporters that Ferrari came from \u201ca very wealthy French family and can afford it\u201d \u2013 although a subsequent BBC investigation raised further questions about the size of her family\u2019s alleged wealth.<\/p>\n Quizzed by Le Monde<\/a> on the issue, the publication said she \u201cdodged\u201d the question. When asked if she bought the property thanks to a family inheritance, she said: \u201cYes and no, that would be a very large inheritance \u2026 There\u2019s more than one way to pay for a house.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t say how much my grandmother gave, that\u2019s my business,\u201d Ferrari added. \u201cThe main thing is that I paid all the taxes, there was no tax evasion, and the house is in my name.\u201d<\/p>\n Following the interview, Labour called on Farage to clarify how the purchase of the property he uses in Clacton was funded.<\/p>\n \u201cLast week we discovered that Nigel Farage failed to declare a \u00a35 million donation from a crypto-billionaire and this week we discover that Farage\u2019s partner might not have paid for all of his house in Clacton after all,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe leader of Reform needs to stop dodging scrutiny and urgently answer questions about this purchase \u2026 Farage has failed to be straight with the public over the full facts.\u201d<\/p>\n The Guardian first reported<\/a> last year that the house in Clacton, which Farage initially said he had bought himself, was in fact wholly owned by Ferrari.<\/p>\n While Farage said the ownership structure was for security reasons, Ferrari purchasing the house would have saved the Reform UK<\/a> leader an estimated \u00a344,000 in the higher rate of stamp duty to which he would have been liable, given he already owns other properties.<\/p>\n He also denied lending or giving his partner money towards the \u00a3885,000 price of the property in Frinton-on-Sea, saying last September: \u201cI haven\u2019t lent money to anybody. I didn\u2019t give her money. She comes from a very successful French family and she can afford it herself. It\u2019s convenient, it works, and she loves it there.\u201d<\/p>\n The BBC investigation found Ferrari\u2019s father\u2019s haulage business in Strasbourg was liquidated in 2020, and her parents were living in a flat in a suburb of the French city worth about \u00a3300,000, co-owned by the couple and their two daughters.<\/p>\n The BBC team said the family also owned the former premises of the haulage company, which is rented out for an estimated \u20ac8,000-\u20ac9,000 (\u00a37,000-\u00a37,800) a month.<\/p>\n The Guardian has contacted Reform for comment.<\/p>\n