Keir Starmer has informed Rachel Reeves that no further action will be taken regarding her unintentional failure to obtain a rental license. Although he expressed regret that emails concerning the arrangement were initially not shared with him, he assured her of no additional repercussions.
Previously, Ms. Reeves acknowledged mistakenly violating local council housing regulations by not securing a “selective” rental license for her family property. She released emails on Thursday exchanged between her husband and the agency, confirming that Harvey & Wheeler had agreed to handle the license application. Despite this, she took full responsibility for the situation when addressing the Prime Minister.
In a letter to Keir Starmer, the Chancellor stated that the letting agency and her husband had recently found correspondence indicating that the agency agreed to apply for a selective license on their behalf back in July 2024. However, they failed to follow through on the application due in part to a staff member leaving.
The Prime Minister, after reviewing the situation, considered it an inadvertent failure to obtain the necessary license, for which Ms. Reeves had apologized and was rectifying. Following advice from the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards, no further action was deemed necessary.
The Prime Minister’s independent standards adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus, affirmed that despite an unfortunate oversight, Ms. Reeves had not acted in bad faith. He mentioned that although there had been conflicting statements regarding her awareness of the license requirement, recent emails confirmed that her husband had been informed in the summer of 2024.
In response, Keir Starmer, consulting his ethics adviser, decided not to initiate a probe, signaling the closure of the matter. Downing Street reiterated its confidence in the Chancellor and assured that the Budget would proceed as planned on November 26.