Rachel Reeves finds herself under renewed scrutiny regarding her involvement in an illegal letting controversy, even after Keir Starmer’s late-night attempt to quell the situation.
The Chancellor acknowledged last night that she had provided misleading information to both the Prime Minister and his adviser on ethics about her awareness of the need for a licence to rent out her family’s property.
Documents revealed that the lettings agency had notified Ms. Reeves’ husband about the requirement for a licence, as per Southwark Council’s regulations, and assured him that the agency would handle the necessary paperwork.
Initially, Ms. Reeves was firm in her stance that she was unaware of the licensing requirement.
However, just hours after this startling revelation came to light, Sir Keir reaffirmed his support for Ms. Reeves, stating she had been cleared of wrongdoing.
Rachel Reeves, pictured with her husband Nicholas Joicey, admitted last night that she had misled the PM and his sleaze adviser over whether she knew a licence was needed to rent out her family home
Within hours of the bombshell news emerging Keir Starmer had again given Ms Reeves a clean bill of health
In a second letter to the Prime Minister in the space of 24 hours, the Chancellor wrote to ‘update’ Sir Keir Starmer over the blunder that has plunged her into jeopardy
The emails showed that the letting agent referred to the need for a licence
While he criticized the initial misinformation as ‘regrettable,’ Sir Keir maintained that Ms. Reeves had acted ‘in good faith.’
The latest effort to sweep the issue under the carpet comes despite Ms Reeves potentially still facing repaying £38,000 in rent to the tenants.
Downing Street will be breathing a sigh of relief that the shambles has been partly overshadowed by the removal of Andrew’s royal titles and status as a prince.
The Daily Mail exclusively revealed on Wednesday night that since entering Downing Street the Chancellor had been letting her family home without a licence.
Ms Reeves had claimed that she and her husband, Nicholas Joicey, were unaware that they needed to secure a ‘selective’ rental licence.
But emails released by No10 last night revealed extensive conversations between Mr Joicey and their letting agent in which they were informed of the need for a licence.
Ms Reeves conceded in a letter to the Prime Minister yesterday that she accepted it was her responsibility to secure the licence.
She said: ‘Today the letting agency and my husband have found correspondence confirming that on 17th July, 2024, the letting agent said to my husband that a Selective Licence would be required and agreed that the agency would apply for the licence on our behalf.
The Daily Mail exclusively revealed on Wednesday night that the Chancellor had been renting out her family home (pictured) without a licence since entering Downing Street
Southwark Council has vowed to crack down on unlicensed letting, with its website advising tenants that they can get money back
‘They have also confirmed today they did not take the application forward, in part due to a member of staff leaving.
‘Nevertheless, as I said yesterday, I accept it was our responsibility to secure the licence.
‘I also take responsibility for not finding this information yesterday and bringing it to your attention.’
Within hours Downing Street released new conclusions from standards adviser Sir Laurie Magnus, along with a letter from Sir Keir saying: ‘I still regard this as a case of an inadvertent failure to secure the appropriate licence, which you have apologised for and are now rectifying.’
He added: ‘Having consulted the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards and received his clear and swift advice, with which I concur, I see no need for any further action.’
‘It would clearly have been better if you and your husband had conducted a full trawl through all email correspondence with the estate agency before writing to me yesterday,’ the Labour leader said.
Sir Laurie said that after seeing the emails, he still believed Ms Reeves made an ‘unfortunate but inadvertent error’.
In a letter to Sir Keir, he said he found ‘no evidence of bad faith’ in Ms Reeves’s contradicting statements about her awareness of the need for the licence.
Government minister Chris Bryant insisted the independent adviser had made his view on the matter clear.
He told LBC during a round of broadcast interviews: ‘I understand the confusion about the two different accounts… the new evidence is not stuff that she was hiding from anybody, it actually exonerates her.’
Told that it ‘both exonerates and contradicts’ her, Mr Bryant said: ‘That often happens in life.’
Ms Reeves put her four-bedroom detached house in Dulwich on the market for £3,200 a month last year, and her register of interests states she has received rental income since September 2024.
Southwark Council has vowed to crack down on unlicensed letting, but in a statement last night suggested that it only typically takes enforcement measures if landlords do not act when warned about the lack of a licence.
However, the council’s website advises tenants that they can apply to a Tribunal to recoup rent under a separate process.
It says the ‘rent repayment orders’ can be up to a year of payments, which in Ms Reeves’ case would be around £38,000.
People are pointed towards Justice For Tenants for help applying for refunds – a charity that boasts it has a ‘success rate of above 98 per cent’.
If a Tribunal makes an award for repayment it can be enforced as if it were a debt in the county court.
