Reeves rebuked by PM over ‘regrettable’ rental confusion but faces no further action

Chancellor Rachel Reeves will not face further action for failing to obtain the correct license to rent her family’s home, the Prime Minister has said.

But Sir Keir Starmer said it was “regrettable” that Reeves did not share all the relevant emails when he first told him about the matter on Wednesday evening.

Chancellor initially said she was not aware a license was needed, but later found correspondence between her husband and the rental agency showing that she had been told a license was needed but that the agency would apply on their behalf.

The rental agency said “oversight” meant it never applied for a license.

Reeves apologized for the “unintentional mistake” but said he accepted full responsibility.

Conservative Party leader Kevin Hollinrake called for a full investigation, saying the chancellor’s story “continues to evolve”.

“On Wednesday, the independent adviser on ministerial standards said it was willing to take Rachel Reeves at her word and the case was closed,” he told BBC Breakfast.

“Some more evidence emerged the next day, which meant that Rachel Reeves’ story on Wednesday was a false account of the incident.”

Reeves rented his four-bedroom home in south London in July 2024, when Labor won the general election and he moved into 11 Downing Street.

The house is located in the area where Southwark Council requires private homeowners to obtain a selective license at a cost of £945. If the council takes the matter to court, Reeves or his letting agent could face unlimited fines.

The Chancellor said he first became aware that his property did not have the correct licence, on Wednesday, when he was contacted by the Daily Mail, which first reported the story.

The Prime Minister’s ethics adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus, said on Thursday night that he “remained of the view that this was an unfortunate but unintentional mistake” after reviewing emails between the estate agent and Reeves’ husband.

While Sir Laurie did not rule on whether the ministerial code had been broken, he said he had found “no evidence of bad faith”.

In a letter to Reeves on Thursday evening, Sir Keir said he agreed with his ethics adviser and said “no further action is required”.

She acknowledged that the emails from the real estate agent were only found by her husband on Thursday morning and that Reeves “acted in good faith.”

But she added: “It would certainly have been better if you and your husband had fully examined all your email correspondence with the estate agent before writing to me yesterday.”

Gareth Martin, owner of estate agent Harvey & Wheeler, which leased the property on Reeves’ behalf, said in a statement: “In an attempt to assist, our previous property manager offered to apply for a license on behalf of these clients, as shown in correspondence. This property manager resigned suddenly on the Friday before the tenancy began the following Monday.

“Unfortunately, the lack of application was not noticed by us as we do not normally apply for licenses on behalf of our customers; the responsibility for the application lies with them. We apologized to the owners for this carelessness.

“All relevant certificates were available when the tenancy commenced and had an application for a license been made we had no doubt it would have been granted.

“Our customers would be under the impression that a license was being applied for.”