Chancellor Rachel Reeves admits breaking housing rules by renting out home

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has admitted breaking housing rules by unlawfully renting out her family home without a licence.

Reeves has told Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, as well as the independent ethics adviser and Parliament’s standards commissioner of the error, which was first reported in the Daily Mail.

It is understood the chancellor used a letting agency but was not told the house was in an area that needed a “selective licence” to rent the property.

Reeves rented out her Southwark home after moving into a flat in Downing Street after last year’s election win.

A spokesperson for Reeves said it was an “inadvertent mistake” and she has now applied for the licence.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has called for a “full investigation”.

In a social media post, Badenoch said if the chancellor broke the law, the prime minister must “show he has the backbone to act”.

The family home in London was put up for rent after Labour won the election in July 2024 for £3,200 a month.

It is in an area where Southwark Council requires private landlords to hold a “selective licence”.

The council’s website states: “You can be prosecuted or fined if you’re a landlord or managing agent for a property that needs a licence and do not get one.”

A spokesperson for Rachel Reeves said: “Since becoming chancellor Rachel Reeves has rented out her family home through a lettings agency.

“She had not been made aware of the licencing requirement, but as soon as it was brought to her attention she took immediate action and has applied for the licence.

“This was an inadvertent mistake and in the spirit of transparency she has made the prime minister, the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards and the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards aware.”

Writing on social media, Badenoch said Sir Keir “once said ‘lawmakers can’t be lawbreakers’. If, as it appears, the chancellor has broken the law, then he will have to show he has the backbone to act.”