Sir Keir Starmer has mentioned Rachel Reeves will face no additional motion over her “inadvertent failure” to acquire a rental licence for her south London house.
It follows a turbulent 24 hours for the chancellor, through which she was accused of breaking the legislation and the Conservatives known as for her to resign or be sacked.
In a letter revealed on Thursday night time, the prime minister mentioned correspondence shared by the chancellor “shows that the oversight regarding the licence occurred after your husband had been told by the estate agents that they would apply for a licence on his behalf”.
Nonetheless, the appliance “did not occur”.
The PM then labelled the incident “an inadvertent failure” and mentioned he sees “no need” for additional motion.
The federal government has additionally revealed a letter from Sir Laurie Magnus, an unbiased adviser on ministerial requirements, to Sir Keir.
He wrote: “It is regrettable that information provided on successive days has generated confusion, but I find no evidence of bad faith.”
The letters got here after Ms Reeves had obtained an apology from a lettings company after the corporate confirmed it supplied to use for a rental licence after which failed to take action.
Picture:The housing row had loomed over Rachel Reeves. Pic: PA
On Wednesday night, the Each day Mail reported Ms Reeves had did not pay for a “selective” licence when renting out her household house in Dulwich, south London, which she has left whereas dwelling in Downing Avenue as chancellor.
In an trade of letters a matter of hours later, Sir Keir Starmer gave the chancellor his backing and mentioned additional investigation into the problem was “not necessary” after consulting his unbiased ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus.
Ms Reeves instantly confronted calls to depart her submit, having admitted to mistakenly breaching native council housing guidelines by failing to safe the licence.
The Housing Act 2004 provides councils the ability to make landlords accredit themselves in sure areas.
Nonetheless, late on Thursday afternoon, the proprietor of lettings company Harvey and Wheeler launched an apology to the chancellor.
In it, boss Gareth Martin confirmed a member of his employees mentioned they might apply for the licence for the Reeves household – however this was by no means executed, because the particular person “suddenly resigned” previous to the beginning of the tenancy.
Mr Martin mentioned: “We alert all our shoppers to the necessity for a licence. In an effort to be useful our earlier property supervisor supplied to use for a licence on these shoppers’ behalf, as proven within the correspondence. That property supervisor all of the sudden resigned on the Friday earlier than the tenancy started on the next Monday.
“Sadly, the dearth of utility was not picked up by us as we don’t usually apply for licences on behalf of our shoppers; the onus is on them to use. We’ve apologised to the homeowners for this oversight.
“On the time the tenancy started, all of the related certificates had been in place and if the licence had been utilized for, we’ve little doubt it might have been granted.
“Our shoppers would have been below the impression {that a} licence had been utilized for. Though it isn’t our accountability to use, we did supply to assist with this.
“We deeply regret the issue caused to our clients as they would have been under the impression that a licence had been applied for.”
What are rental licensing legal guidelines?
Beneath the Housing Act 2004, launched by Labour, councils can determine to introduce selective licensing, the place residential landlords in specified areas should have a licence.
Landlords should adhere to sure necessities to acquire a licence, together with fuel certificates, working carbon monoxide alarms and fireplace security laws for furnishings.
They need to safe a licence inside 28 days of renting out a house.
Southwark Council, the place Rachel Reeves’ home is, fees £900 for a licence, which lasts 5 years.
Failure to safe a selective licence may end up in a penalty of as much as £30,000 or an infinite effective from a court docket upon conviction.
Landlords can be made to repay as much as 12 months’ lease to the tenant or they are often prevented from renting out the property.
Severe and repeat offenders may be prosecuted, with a sentence of as much as 5 years or an uncapped effective, and they are often placed on a rogue landlords database.
Within the letter from Ms Reeves to Sir Keir, the chancellor mentioned: “Yesterday I wrote to you and mentioned that we weren’t conscious {that a} licence was essential to set free our property, based mostly on conversations my husband had with the company yesterday.
“At present the letting company and my husband have discovered correspondence confirming that on 17 July 2024 the letting agent mentioned to my husband {that a} selective licence can be required and agreed that the company would apply for the licence on our behalf.
“They’ve additionally confirmed at present they didn’t take the appliance ahead, partially because of a member of employees leaving the organisation. However, as I mentioned yesterday, I settle for it was our accountability to safe the licence.
“I additionally take accountability for not discovering this info yesterday and bringing it to your consideration.
“As I said to you today, I am sorry about this matter and accept full responsibility for it.”
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The Conservatives are calling for additional investigations from Downing Avenue into what occurred and the timeline of occasions.
Nonetheless, it seems that Quantity 10 considers the matter closed because it has constantly stood behind the chancellor – and says she’s going to ship subsequent month’s price range.
