SAT . Sir Keir Starmer must sack Rachel Reeves for breaking housing laws, the Conservatives have demanded
Renters’ rights campaigners call for Reeves to quit
Renters’ rights campaign groups have called for Rachel Reeves to resign as Chancellor after she admitted breaking housing rules, writes Madeleine Ross.
Jae Vail, a spokesman for the London Renters Union, which helps tenants reclaim rent from rogue landlords, said: “Rachel Reeves must resign.
“At a time when infants are dying in temporary accommodation, when hundreds of thousands of private renters are trapped in dangerous homes, it is unacceptable for the Chancellor to flout what scant protections tenants have.
“The new regulations in the Renters’ Rights Act will only make tenants safer in our homes if landlords who break the law are meaningfully held to account. Politicians cannot be let off easy.
“How can the millions of people struggling right now trust the government to tackle rising rents when so many politicians are dodging their responsibilities and cashing in on the housing crisis? It is a conflict of interest. It’s time to get landlords out of parliament for good.”
Why Reeves appears poised to break Labour’s tax manifesto pledge
How on earth could Downing Street be considering ripping up its election manifesto promises on tax?
Raising taxes in a way ruled out last summer, when four-fifths of the electorate already oppose your government, would be, to paraphrase Sir Humphrey from Yes Minister, “brave”.
But there can be little doubt now that Sir Keir Starmer and his team want it to be known publicly that such a move is being considered for the Budget on Nov 26.
Sir Keir declined to say that income tax, National Insurance and VAT would not rise – the manifesto pledges – when asked by Kemi Badenoch at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday.
Reeves could be exempted from Khan’s ‘rogue landlord’ list
Rachel Reeves could be exempted from being listed on Sir Sadiq Khan’s rogue landlord website, writes Madeleine Ross.
The “Rogue Landlord Checker” lists all London landlords who have been prosecuted or fined by councils, or expelled from consumer redress schemes, including the property ombudsman. It was introduced by Sir Sadiq in December 2017.
But landlords can appeal against being placed on the checker if being named carries a risk of harm to them or their families, or if there are national security risks.
Given Ms Reeves’s position as Chancellor, it is thought that she could legitimately claim these exemptions, and avoid being publicly listed.
Rachel Reeves could be added to Labour’s own dodgy landlords database
Rachel Reeves’s name could be added to her party’s own rogue landlords database after unlawfully letting out her house in South London.
Labour has this week passed its Renters’ Rights Act, which includes a new “Private Rented Sector Database” of landlords, including details about rule breaches.
The new register will help landlords “understand their obligations and demonstrate compliance,” according to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
But it will also “increase transparency” for renters, allowing them to identify “poor quality and non-compliant private rented sector properties and who owns them”.
The exact details to be included on the database are currently being discussed in Whitehall, but the Government has said it will include “certain details relating to offences”, which could include breaches of the selective licensing scheme.
Reeves must be prosecuted immediately, say Tories
Southwark Council must prosecute Rachel Reeves immediately, Dame Priti Patel has said.
The Tory shadow foreign secretary noted the Labour local authority’s plan for Southwark includes commitments to tackling “rogue landlords” and “empty homes”.
Dame Priti said: “Labour-run Southwark Council boasts of ‘cracking down on’ and having a ‘zero tolerance approach to rogue landlords’ and have prosecuted landlords for renting unlicensed properties.
“Rachel Reeves has made thousands from renting without following the licensing laws. Southwark Council must now take action on Rachel Reeves and prosecute her.”
Reeves supported landlord licensing in her constituency
Rachel Reeves supported landlord licensing in her own constituency, it has emerged.
The licensing scheme that tripped up the Chancellor has been in force for more than two years and was first approved by Michael Gove.
The Labour-run Southwark Council introduced one of the largest licensing schemes in the country in July 2023, after a pilot in some areas of the borough.
The decision was approved directly by Lord Gove, then Housing Secretary, after an application from the council. Southwark Council said at the time that the scheme would fix “repairs which have not been addressed, landlords who do not respond, and damp and mould”.
Ms Reeves has since supported similar schemes in her Leeds constituency. Last week, she said: “I welcome Leeds City Council’s decision to expand their selective landlord licencing policy to include the Armley area.
“While many private landlords operate in the right way, we know that lots of private tenants in Armley face problems with poorly maintained housing.”
Badenoch calls for audit of Starmer’s entire Cabinet
Kemi Badenoch has called for an audit of Sir Keir Starmer’s entire Cabinet to ensure his ministers’ affairs are in order, writes Amy Gibbons.
The Tory leader is urging the Prime Minister to double check no one else on his top team is breaking any rules after it emerged Rachel Reeves unlawfully let out her home in London.
It is the latest in a string of scandals to shake Sir Keir’s premiership, following the bombshell resignation of Angela Rayner.
Asked if Sir Keir should carry out an audit of his Cabinet, Mrs Badenoch told reporters: “I think he’s going to have to do more than a one-off audit. He does not have a Cabinet of people who are ready to run the country. None of them have ever run a proper business. That’s why they’ve got themselves into a mess.
“Many of them come purely from trade union backgrounds or the public sector, and right now the economy is the biggest challenge that is facing all of us, and we need people who understand that.
“And they’re very, very distracted with all of their personal issues, their constant blunders. We need a Cabinet of people who are focused on what is going on with the economy.”
Reeves’s estate agent pulls house down from website
Rachel Reeves’s estate agent has removed her house from their website after it emerged she had unlawfully rented it out to tenants.
The property listing, which has now disappeared, advertised the Chancellor’s house as “tucked away on a private road” and showcases the “south facing deck terrace ideal for al fresco dining”.
Other selling features include an “entrance lobby with built-in cupboards” and a “bright spacious reception room with French doors”. All of the house’s four bedrooms have built-in wardrobes, it says.
Government borrowing costs rise as Tories call for Reeves to quit
The cost of UK government borrowing rose at the fastest pace among major European economies as Rachel Reeves faced pressure to quit after breaking housing laws.
British bond yields – a benchmark for the cost of servicing Britain’s national debt – rose across the board after the Conservatives said the Chancellor should stand down. Shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride said Ms Reeves’s position was “untenable” after she apologised to the Prime Minister for breaking housing regulations.
She unlawfully rented out her family home following her move to No 11. The move higher in bond yields mirrors a jump in July when concerns emerged that the Chancellor could be about to quit following a tearful appearance in the Commons.
Will Walker-Arnott, a director at wealth manager Charles Stanley, joked at the time that the move was “a rare example of financial markets actually enhancing the career prospects of a politician”.
“The markets were concerned that if the Chancellor goes then any fiscal discipline would follow her out the door and that would mean bigger deficits, more gilt issuance and so, obviously, gilt yields went up,” he told the BBC.
The yield on 10-year gilts rose more than three basis points on Thursday to 4.42 per cent.
Badenoch declines to commit to reversing income tax rise
Kemi Badenoch declined to reverse a 2p tax rise in income tax if it is introduced by Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves.
She said: “This is one of those things where we have to see where we are in four years time. We talked about the things which we are going to reverse, the family farms tax, family business taxes, taxes on education.
“We want to abolish stamp duty. We want to scrap business rates for high streets. But we don’t know what kind of mess Labour is going to be leaving in four years time. All we know is that they’re going to be leaving one hell of a mess.
“And we’ve got to clear it up, and we will do that through applying our golden economic rule, making sure that we’re paying down the deficit as well as making investments.”
