Chancellor refers herself to the independent ethics advisor after renting out family home without a licence when she moved to Downing Street
The corridors of power in Westminster are once again engulfed in a housing scandal after Chancellor Rachel Reeves admitted unlawfully renting out her family home without a licence.
The Chancellor’s breach of housing rules, first reported by The Daily Mail, is another embarrassing housing misstep by the Government after Angela Raynor was forced to resign as Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary in September for underpaying stamp duty on her seaside flat in Hove, East Sussex.
Reeves, who took up residence in Downing Street following Labour’s election victory last year, has now compounded that error by admitting to unlawfully renting out her family home in Dulwich, south-east London, without the requisite licence demanded by Southwark Council.
The four-bedroom detached property, let for £3,200 a month, has been a source of rental income for the Chancellor since September 2024. However, the home was put on the market without securing a “selective licence” - a legal requirement in parts of the borough since 2023, designed to “improve safety, security and quality for people living in private rented homes”.
READ MORE: Angela Rayner admits she didn’t pay enough stamp duty on new seaside flat
A spokesperson for Reeves described the episode as “an inadvertent mistake,” explaining that she had relied on a lettings agency and “had not been made aware of the licensing requirement, but as soon as it was brought to her attention she took immediate action and has applied for the licence. This was an inadvertent mistake and in the spirit of transparency she has made the Prime Minister, the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards and the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards aware”.
The political fallout, though, has been swift and unforgiving, according to the BBC. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has called for a “full investigation,” pointedly recalling the Prime Minister’s own words: “Lawmakers can’t be lawbreakers. If, as it appears, the Chancellor has broken the law, then he will have to show he has the backbone to act.”
The Liberal Democrats’ Daisy Cooper was equally scathing, remarking: “The chancellor is meant to be delivering growth but the only thing she appears to be growing is the government’s list of scandals. Just weeks before the Budget, this risks seriously undermining confidence in this government and its ability to focus on the urgent tasks at hand.”
READ MORE: Brokers slam Reeves’ property tax plans
As with Raynor, the episode is an example of the care required to navigate the regulatory landscape that governs the private rental sector. Selective licensing, while not a nationwide requirement, is increasingly common in metropolitan boroughs, and failure to comply can result in unlimited fines or orders to repay up to 12 months’ rent.
Local estate agents have voiced concern that many landlords remain unaware of such requirements, according to The Daily Mail report, especially when changes are introduced after tenancies have already commenced. Yet, questions will be asked how the Chancellor - who began renting out her property after the licensing change - could have failed to notice the new rules.
Her error comes at a sensitive time for the housing market as landlords find themselves squeezed by costs and red tape; stamp duty on buy-to-let property was hiked from 3 per cent to 5 per cent in Reeves’ first Budget, and the new Renters’ Rights Bill has introduced new requirements for property owners.
