Rachel Reeves has 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.
It follows a turbulent 24 hours for the chancellor, by which she was accused of breaking the legislation and the Conservatives referred to as for her to resign or be sacked.
On Wednesday night, the Each day Mail reported that Ms Reeves had did not pay for a “selective” licence when renting out her household house in Dulwich, south London, that she has left whereas residing in Downing Road as chancellor.
In an change of letters a matter of hours later, Sir Keir Starmer gave the chancellor his backing and mentioned additional investigation into the difficulty was “not necessary” after consulting his impartial ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus.
Ms Reeves instantly confronted calls to go away her put up, 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’d apply for the licence for the Reeves household – however this was by no means finished, because the individual “suddenly resigned” previous to the beginning of the tenancy.
Picture:
The housing row had loomed over Rachel Reeves. Pic: PA
Mr Martin mentioned: “We alert all our clients to the need for a licence. In an effort to be helpful our previous property manager offered to apply for a licence on these clients’ behalf, as shown in the correspondence. That property manager suddenly resigned on the Friday before the tenancy began on the following Monday.
“Sadly, the shortage of software was not picked up by us as we don’t usually apply for licences on behalf of our purchasers; the onus is on them to use. We’ve apologised to the homeowners for this oversight.
“At the time the tenancy began, all the relevant certificates were in place and if the licence had been applied for, we have no doubt it would have been granted.
“Our purchasers would have been beneath the impression {that a} licence had been utilized for. Though it’s not our duty 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 will need to have a licence.
Landlords should adhere to sure necessities to acquire a licence, together with gasoline certificates, working carbon monoxide alarms and hearth security laws for furnishings.
They have to safe a licence inside 28 days of renting out a house.
Southwark Council, the place Rachel Reeves’ home is, expenses £900 for a licence, which lasts 5 years.
Failure to safe a selective licence can lead to a penalty of as much as £30,000 or a limiteless high-quality from a courtroom upon conviction.
Landlords will also 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 will be prosecuted, with a sentence of as much as 5 years or an uncapped high-quality, 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 said that we were not aware that a licence was necessary to let out our property, based on conversations my husband had with the agency yesterday.
“As we speak 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 could be required and agreed that the company would apply for the licence on our behalf.
“They have also confirmed today they did not take the application forward, in part due to a member of staff leaving the organisation. Nevertheless, as I said yesterday, I accept it was our responsibility to secure the licence.
“I additionally take duty for not discovering this data 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.”
Captivate
This content material is supplied by Captivate, which can be utilizing cookies and different applied sciences.
To indicate you this content material, we want your permission to make use of cookies.
You should utilize the buttons beneath to amend your preferences to allow Captivate cookies or to permit these cookies simply as soon as.
You possibly can change your settings at any time by way of the Privateness Choices.
Sadly we’ve been unable to confirm when you’ve got consented to Captivate cookies.
To view this content material you should use the button beneath to permit Captivate cookies for this session solely.
Allow Cookies
Enable Cookies As soon as
👉Take heed to Politics at Sam and Anne’s in your podcast app👈
The Conservatives are calling for additional investigations from Downing Road into what occurred and the timeline of occasions.
Nonetheless, it seems that Quantity 10 considers the matter closed because it has persistently stood behind the chancellor – and says she’s going to ship subsequent month’s finances.
