New information about Rachel Reeves renting error emerges as Downing Street insists she 'will deliver Budget'
Sir Keir Starmer and his independent adviser on ministerial standards have received “new information” regarding rental arrangements for the Chancellor’s family home, Downing Street has said.
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It reopens the row surrounding Rachel Reeves’ breach of local council housing rules by failing to obtain a rental licence, after the Prime Minister sought to draw a line under the issue earlier on Thursday.
Downing Street said that emails “sent and received” by the Chancellor’s husband, Nicholas Joicey, have been passed to the Prime Minister and Sir Laurie Magnus. It is understood that the emails will be published later today.
Harvey Wheeler, 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.
A spokesman for No 10 said: “Following a review of emails sent and received by the Chancellor’s husband, new information has come to light.
“This has now been passed to the prime minister and his independent adviser. It would be inappropriate to comment further”.
The spokesman insisted that the Prime Minister continued to have "full confidence" in Ms Reeves and guaranteed she will deliver the Budget on November 26.
Mr Joicey is a senior civil servant, currently working as the second permanent secretary in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. He is currently on a one-year secondment to Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government.
On Wednesday, Ms Reeves admitted breaking housing regulations by renting out her family home in Dulwich without a rental licence.
As she moved into Number 11 Downing Street, she listed her four-bedroom home in the leafy neighbourhood for £3,200-a-month and has received rent for the property since September 2024.
Southwark Council say private landlords in the area where Ms Reeves's house is situated must obtain a licence in order to rent their properties out. Ms Reeves faces paying back £38,400 to the tenants who were renting the property.
The council has suggested enforcement action is reserved for landlords who ignore warning letters about not having a licence or keep a property in an unsafe condition, indicating Rachel Reeves is unlikely to be fined.
A spokesperson said: "Southwark Council requires private landlords to acquire a selective licence in order to rent out their homes if they live in specific areas.
"This is in order to protect tenants and ensure landlords are complying with housing requirements, providing safe, well-maintained homes.
"Selective licences are acquired by sending applications to the council, which we then assess and approve subject to conditions.
"When we become aware of an unlicensed property, we issue a warning letter advising the landlord that they have 21 days to apply for a licence - enforcement action such as fines are reserved for those who do not apply within that time or where a property is found to be in an unsafe condition.
"We cannot comment on individual cases."
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."
The Chancellor - who is less than a month from delivering a crunch Budget - suggested that the letting agent had not advised her of the need for a licence.
Sir Keir had sought to draw a line under the issue after Ms Reeves apologised for the error.
In a letter to the Prime Minister on Wednesday, the Chancellor admitted she did not obtain a "selective" rental licence required to rent out her London home and apologised for the "inadvertent error".
Ms Reeves had told Sir Keir that "regrettably" she and her family were not aware a licence was needed in their area of Southwark in London, where they rented out their home for £3,200 a month after moving into No 11.
In his response, Sir Keir said he was happy the "matter can be drawn to a close" after consulting his ethics adviser, who decided against launching a probe.
No 10 declined to say whether Ms Reeves broke the Ministerial Code, noting that the standards rules set out that an apology is a "sufficient resolution" in certain cases.
Opposition critics have argued the Government has questions to answer and demanded an investigation.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said that Rachel Reeves’ breach of housing rules “stinks” and urged the Prime Minister to “ stop trying to cover this up”.
Responding to the update from Downing Street, the Tory leader demanded an investigation.
She wrote on X: “This whole thing stinks. The Prime Minister needs to stop trying to cover this up, order a full investigation and, if Reeves has broken the law, grow a backbone and sack her!”