Rachel Reeves is in the spotlight after it was revealed she had been letting her south London home without a license since moving into No. 11.
Rachel Reeves breaks silence on rental saga (Image: Getty)
Rachel Reeves has said she accepts “it was our responsibility to secure the licence” for renting her family home in a letter to the Prime Minister.
The lettings agency involved in the Chancellor’s rental arrangements insisted it had also told her she needed a licence – this is despite Ms Reeves insisting on Wednesday that she was not aware of the requirement.
Ms Reeves told Sir Keir Starmer that emails between her husband and their letting agency showed they had “agreed that the agency would apply for the licence on our behalf” and that they have “confirmed today they did not take the application forward”.
The Chancellor said the letting agency she used to rent out her home had not taken forward a licence application “in part due to a member of staff leaving” but that she accepted “full responsibility” for the issue.
In a letter to the Prime Minister published on Thursday, the Chancellor wrote: “Today the letting agency and my husband have found correspondence confirming that on 17 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.
“They have also confirmed today that they did not take that application forward, in part due to a member of staff leaving the organisation.
“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.
“As I said to you today, I am sorry about this matter and accept full responsibility for it.”
But the lettings agency insisted it had told Ms Reeves that she needed a licence.
This contradicted the claim made by Ms Reeves in her letter to the Prime Minister earlier this week, when she said: “Regrettably, we were not aware that a licence was necessary, and so we did not obtain the licence before letting the property out.”
A Conservative Party spokesman said:”Last night Rachel Reeves said ‘she had not been made aware of the licensing requirement’.
“Today, we find out that Reeves was alerted to the need for a licence in writing by the estate agents. Having been caught out, the Chancellor is now trying to make the estate agents take the blame, but Reeves never followed up with them to ensure that the licence had been applied for, or checked if the licence had been granted. Regardless, under the law, Reeves and her husband are responsible for ensuring the licence is granted.
“With more information coming to light every few hours, the Prime Minister needs to grow a backbone and start a proper investigation.”
Sir Keir and his independent adviser on ministerial standards received “new information” regarding rental arrangements for the Chancellor’s family home on Thursday afternoon, No10 said referring to the emails.
It reopened the row surrounding Ms Reeves’s breach of local council housing rules by failing to obtain a rental licence, after the Prime Minister sought to draw a line under the issue earlier today.
A No 10 spokesman told reporters: “Following a review of emails sent and received by the Chancellor’s husband, new information has come to light.
“This information has been passed to the Prime Minister and his independent adviser.”
The spokesman declined to give further details but insisted Sir Keir “has full confidence” in Ms Reeves and that she would be delivering the highly-anticipated November 26 Budget.
Asked whether the autumn statement would be delivered by the current Chancellor on the expected date, the official confirmed it would.
In a letter to the Prime Minister on Wednesday, the Chancellor admitted she did not obtain a “selective” rental licence required to rent out her London home and apologised for the “inadvertent error”.
In his response, Sir Keir said he was happy the “matter can be drawn to a close” after consulting his ethics adviser, who decided against launching a probe.
Opposition critics have argued the Government has questions to answer and demanded an investigation.
