Relief for Rachel Reeves over rental row as Downing Street publishes letters and estate agents apologise
The chancellor ‘would have been under the impression’ that a licence to rent out her home in Dulwich, south London, had been applied for, the company says
The estate agents used by Rachel Reeves to rent out her property in south London, have apologised to her for an “oversight” after they did not apply for a licence on her behalf, having offered to do so.
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It comes as emails from Rachel Reeves’s husband have been passed to the prime minister and his ethics adviser as the row continues over her failure to obtain the correct paperwork to rent out her family home.
Downing Street had sought to draw a line under the row surrounding the chancellor’s breach of local housing rules, but the discovery of the messages has reignited scrutiny.
On Thursday evening, the Government published the two chains of emails dated between July 17 and August 13, 2024, in which Nicholas Joicey and the firm corresponded about the necessary steps to rent out the south London home.
In the emails between Harvey Wheeler estate agents and the Chancellor's husband, the company can be seen to offer to apply for a selective rental licence on behalf of Ms Reeves' family "once the new tenant moves in".
Read more: Rachel Reeves: What is a selective property licence and who needs one?
In one email dated July 26, Harvey Wheeler reveals the licence will cost £900, adding: "you will pay in two parts, so £640 first and then once the application has been processed then the remaining £260.00 is taken."
The email from the letting agent also appeared to confirm the company was responsible for applying for the licence, as it added: "I don't apply for the licence until we actually have tenants move in so this payment won't need to be paid until after move in."
The final email in the chain from August 13 also appeared to confirm this.
The message from the agent read: "I will do the selective licence once the new tenant moves in as I won't need to do this just yet."
In a statement Gareth Martin, owner of Harvey Wheeler, estate agents said: "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.
"Unfortunately, the lack of application was not picked up by us as we do not normally apply for licences on behalf of our clients; the onus is on them to apply.
"We have apologised to the owners 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 clients would have been under the impression that a licence had been applied for. Although it is not our responsibility to apply, we did offer to help 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."
In a letter to the Prime Minister published on Thursday, Ms Reeves wrote: "Today the letting agency and my husband have found correspondence confirming that on 17 July 2024 the letting agent said to my husband that a selective licence would be required and agreed that the agency would apply for the licence on our behalf.
"They have also confirmed today that they did not take that 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 also take responsibility for not finding this information yesterday and bringing it to your attention.
"As I said to you today, I am sorry about this matter and accept full responsibility for it."