Lettings agency takes blame in Rachel Reeves licence row | Rachel Reeves

Keir Starmer appears to have escaped the huge political damage of potentially losing his chancellor weeks before the budget, following intense 24-hour scrutiny over whether Rachel Reeves broke the law when renting the family home.

The Conservatives said Reeves should be sacked if he committed an offense by not obtaining a council license before renting out his four-bedroom south London home when his family moved into 11 Downing Street. No 10 was initially unable to explain why Starmer believed an apology from the Chancellor was sufficient.

But after a chaotic day, the rental agency Reeves employed said it was guilty of not applying for a licence, and apologized for the mistake.

Emails later published by Downing Street between the force and Reeves’ husband, Nicholas Joicey, a senior civil servant, supported this version of events.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch argued this did not put the matter to rest and called on Starmer to launch a full investigation. But his position appeared secure, with Southwark council saying it had no plans to take any action against Reeves.

Starmer confirmed no further action would be taken after consulting his independent adviser, Laurie Magnus, on ministerial standards. In a letter to Reeves, he said: “I still view this as a case of inadvertent failure to obtain the appropriate license, for which you apologized and have now corrected… I see no need to take further action.”

Reeves’ departure would be a devastating blow for Starmer. The Chancellor is preparing a budget that will be announced on 26 November and is vital for the future of his government.

It would also be the second loss of a key minister in recent months, after Angela Rayner left her post as deputy prime minister and housing minister in September over another property-related row, namely the underpayment of stamp duty on an £800,000 seaside flat.

The row over Reeves’ property issues began on Wednesday evening when letters were published between him and Starmer regarding his failure to pay for a £945 “selective licence” before renting the house, as required in parts of Southwark.

In his letter, Reeves said he was unaware a license was needed and applied as soon as he found out.

In his response, Starmer said that after consulting with Magnus he was satisfied the breach was “unintentional” and that an apology was sufficient given his immediate action when he learned of the licence.

Downing Street refused to say whether it had seen any evidence to support Magnus’ claim that Reeves had made an inadvertent mistake, or whether it took him at his word.

No 10 refused to say whether Reeves had breached the ministerial code or potentially breached the law. Badenoch argued that Reeves should be sacked if fined, citing Starmer’s argument that “lawbreakers cannot be legislators” following Boris Johnson’s fine for breaking Covid rules.

In some early good news for Reeves, Southwark issued a statement saying that while it could not comment on individual cases, it was only pushing for enforcement measures such as fines if someone fails to apply within 21 days of being warned they need a licence, or if a property is found to be in an unsafe condition.

No 10 later announced that Magnus had reopened its review of the case after new information emerged in emails to and from Joicey.

Shortly afterwards, Harvey & Wheeler, a property and lettings agency based in Dulwich, south London, said it took responsibility for the lack of licence. While property owners typically apply for these applications, in this case a now-departed staff member offered to do so on Reeves’ behalf but later failed to do so.

In a statement, the company said the then-property manager offered to apply for a license on behalf of Reeves’ family “in an attempt to assist”, but did not do so and left the company just before the tenancy began.

In the statement, it was said, “Unfortunately, since we do not normally apply for a license on behalf of our customers, the lack of application was not corrected by us; the responsibility for the application belongs to them. We apologized to the owners for this carelessness.” “We deeply regret the issue our customers are experiencing because they were under the impression that they were applying for a licence.”

Emails later published by Downing Street between the agency and Joicey supported this narrative.

The agent’s message to Joicey read: “I will do the selective license when the new tenant moves in as I won’t need it yet. We are currently only applying for a council licence.”

In response, Joicey is asking the agency to “please go ahead” and obtain the license, as well as have an electrical safety test done and ask if there are any other administrative tasks that need to be completed.

In his new letter to Starmer, Reeves wrote that the agency accepted responsibility, adding: “Nevertheless, as I said yesterday, I accept that it is our responsibility to secure the licence. I also accept responsibility for not finding this information and not bringing it to your attention yesterday.”

“As I told you today, I am sorry for this matter and accept full responsibility for it.”

A Conservative Party spokesman said: “Last night Rachel Reeves said she ‘was not informed of the licensing requirement.’ Today we learned that Reeves had been warned in writing by estate agents about the need for a licence.”

“The chancellor who was caught is now trying to pin the blame on the estate agents… With more information coming to light every few hours, the chancellor needs to develop some backbone and launch a proper investigation.”