Chancellor Rachel Reeves retained her position last week, less than a month before the Budget, after facing 24 hours of intense scrutiny over whether she broke the law by renting out her family home without a required council licence.
The Conservatives called for Reeves to be sacked if she had committed an offence by failing to obtain a licence for her four-bedroom South London property when her family moved into 11 Downing Street. Prime minister Keir Starmer, however, accepted Reeves’s apology as sufficient.
The lettings agency Reeves used admitted it was responsible for failing to apply for the licence and issued an apology for the oversight. Southwark Council confirmed it had no plans to take action against her. Starmer subsequently stated that no further action would be taken, following advice from the independent adviser on ministerial standards, Laurie Magnus.
The controversy began with letters exchanged between Reeves and Starmer regarding the unpaid £945 “selective licence,” required in parts of Southwark. Reeves maintained she was unaware of the requirement and applied for the licence as soon as she learned of it.
But The Daily Mail over the weekend reported that there has been “fresh revelations” after it found that Reeves had been warned about the licence requirement by two different letting agencies – Knight Frank and Harvey & Wheeler, the company she eventually instructed.
An extract from an article published by The Daily Mail yesterday stated: “A source has told this newspaper that before engaging that company, Ms Reeves and her husband had approached blue-chip estate agency Knight Frank about managing the property – and were warned about the need for the licence.
“The revelation raises fresh questions about the Chancellor’s initial insistence to the Prime Minister that she was not aware of the legal requirements, given that two separate estate agents raised the issue.
“On Saturday night a Knight Frank spokesman said: ‘It is standard procedure to notify all clients of their legal and regulatory obligations when letting a property.”
The Tories have now called for fresh action.
Shadow Treasury Minister, Gareth Davies, said: “Each day brings fresh questions about Rachel Reeves’ account. This latest revelation casts serious doubt on her claim not to have known about the need for a licence. Her story seems to shift with every explanation.
“The prime minister must now get to the bottom of this and order a full investigation without delay.”
Calls to act against Rachel Reeves rejected by Labour-led Southwark Council
