Rachel Reeves let out house unlawfully

RR is married to a senior civil servant who may be assumed to be moderately competent. If I became Chancellor, quite a demanding job, and had a similarly qualified spouse, I would happily entrust the details of tbe letting to them.

vegansrock

She and her DH outsourced this a letting agent which takes a hefty whack for taking care of everything. I hope everyone who is horrified by this and want her head on a plate were equally horrified by Johnson's numerous shennanigans which led 2 ethical advisers to resign.

Plenty of people dont want him back. Including Tory voters.

Sounds like her letting agent should not be working as one.

As a few people have said or implied, a storm in a teacup.

Let's see what a complete cods she makes of the budget - that's the time to start jumping up and down.

It may have been a storm in a tea cup if the Ethics Committee were able to look into the matter, but KS has effectively prevented this from happening; why?

The man's an idiot, he's simply made it worse. Let those who are responsible for looking into these cases, do their job.

Having just been embroiled in a major discussion about tax and working as a pensioner, (for someone else), I have no words for the way HMRC acts! Beware the lunatics really are in charge of the asylum!!

Smileless2012

It may have been a storm in a tea cup if the Ethics Committee were able to look into the matter, but KS has effectively prevented this from happening; why?

The man's an idiot, he's simply made it worse. Let those who are responsible for looking into these cases, do their job.

Reeves informed the Prime Minister, the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards (Sir Laurie Magnus), and the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards of the error. After the PM spoke to Laurie Magnus was decided no investigation was necessary.
It's blatantly obvious it was a genuine oversight as the rental agency balls up. If this happened to you would you resign your job.

vegansrock

Those who claimed they would thoroughly check it probably do not have a full on job which requires you to outsource a lot of your life admin. She used an agent who no doubt charge a fee for their services.

I would expect the Labour party and Civil Service (but only if instructed by the government) to have established support services to which ministers and the like can refer these matters, so that they do not have to rely on outside agents who will not be aware of the extreme political sensitivities of these issues.

I have said it before but it bears repeating. This current administration cannot be trusted to run the proverbial in a brewery without making a mess of it. Slap dash, careless, and totally cloth eared when it comes to being aware of public concerns.

The house letting is nothing to get too bothered about. I'm more bothered about the way things are going and the upcoming budget.
We are stuck with mediocre politicians in all parties these days.

M0nica

vegansrock

Those who claimed they would thoroughly check it probably do not have a full on job which requires you to outsource a lot of your life admin. She used an agent who no doubt charge a fee for their services.

I would expect the Labour party and Civil Service (but only if instructed by the government) to have established support services to which ministers and the like can refer these matters, so that they do not have to rely on outside agents who will not be aware of the extreme political sensitivities of these issues.

I have said it before but it bears repeating. This current administration cannot be trusted to run the proverbial in a brewery without making a mess of it. Slap dash, careless, and totally cloth eared when it comes to being aware of public concerns.

I’m not the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the third most senior cabinet minister (assuming the deputy PM is 2nd) but if I were and I’d made this mistake then yes I’d tender my resignation as it demonstrates total negligence in not checking and double checking the law regarding letting residential property. This especially after the former deputy PM had resigned over a similar “mistake”.

FriedGreenTomatoes2

Storm in a teacup.

That's a big, big teacup. And it's going to get bigger.

She's far too toxic now and the PM needs to get rid of her before she completely sinks his credibility and before she inflicts more financial suffering on the country.

Rachel From Accounts can't be trusted to run a Christmas Tombola. Plus she viciously despises pensioners.

Where have I suggested she should resign OldFrill?

Opposition parties will have a field day with this if there's no enquiry.

so that they do not have to rely on outside agents who will not be aware of the extreme political sensitivities of these issues.

But if you are acting on behalf of the Chancellor of the Exchequor?!
Wouldnt you be crossing the is and dotting the ts?!
And be totally aware of the political sensitivities!

If I were the Chancellor I would be crossing the i's and dotting the t's because if anyone should be totally aware of the political sensitivities, that would be me!

Has it occurred to anyone that it might have been Reeves' husband who dealt with letting their house?

I am with those who think this is a "storm in a tea cup" that RR opponents aim to conflate and use as a stick to beat her with, one month before she delivers her budget.

1) This was not a sale or purchase transaction, in which documents were allegedly falsely presented to HMRC or Land Registry where there could be monetary gain for the individual in question (~ like accusations against Rayner and Farage).
2) This is not an HMO licence in question.
3) Letting of property does not usually involve the need for a "selective licence" ( as is the licence in this case) before they rent out their property. Only certain local councils require this and only in elective areas in their borough.
4) RR put the rental process into the hands of a professional letting agent under an agreed legal binding contract.
5) Within that contract was a clause that stated the letting agent would inform their client, RR, if any such licences were required.
6) RR relied on the content and detail of that legally binding contract and paid their fee accordingly- average letting agency fees in London range from 12 to 20% plus additional 20% VAT of rental income monthly, on top of admin and set up fees and additional costs of gas safety certificate, EPC etc.
7) I understand the property was let for £3,200 a month.
8) If that was the case RR's letting agent basic monthly fee ranges between £384 plus 20% VAT to £640 plus 20%VAT, a not inconsiderable sum of money. You expect reasonable and professional service in line with the legally binding contract of services for that amount of money.
9) RR's obligations at time of letting were to read the letting contract carefully, make sure she understood the fee and clauses before signing and handing over letting responsibilities to the agent- no one has suggested she did not do this, i.e she was nor "slap dash"
10) The housing regulations of Southwark Council stipulate that a private landlord, IN CERTAIN DESIGNATED AREAS, need to obtain a "selective licence" before they can rent out their property. Southwark Council did not require this licence in RR's home location when introduced in 2021, but did extend the requirement to cover RR's area at a later date in 2023, one year before RR put her property in the hands of a professional letting agent.
11) The Letting agent failed to check this requirement as it was contractually required to do so, of which RR was unaware. That is her contract stipulated she would be told if any licences were required and she was not.
12) Political opponents actively seek out any property incident of a politician in the public eye of illegal, inappropriate behaviour that falls below the Nolan Principles expected of those in public life.
13) They do this most likely so they can share information with the press, in an effort to expose the political individual as involved in something underhand/illegal etc to bring scrutiny and pressure on the politician in question- usually for the opponent's benefit/ opportunity to call for their resignation.
14) The press ran a story, one month before RR delivers budget (timing may be deliberate?) that RR had "broken housing rules".
15) Prior to this RR thought that all was in order and her letting agent, as contractually required to do so, had failed to advise her of the "selective licence" required in question
16) As soon as RR became aware by the press, not her letting agent, she applied for a license, informed the PM, apologised for her "inadvertent mistake" and she referred herself to the Independent Advisor of Ministerial Standards and the Standards Commissioner.
17) The PM consulted with the advisor on ministerial requirements who advised "in light of your prompt action, including your apology, further investigation is not necessary....RR is treating this matter with the urgency and seriousness it deserves". He was satisfied the matter could be drawn to a close as the ministerial code explicitly states that "in certain circumstances an apology is enough". That is in his opinion the mistrial code had NOT been breached.
18) RR has grounds and evidence to issue a claim against her letting agent fro breach of contract that has brought her reputation into disrepute.

In all the circumstances of the case as outlined, I don't feel that RR was "slap dash". Neither do I think she has broken any Nolan Principles, ie those of selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness honesty and leadership in the circumstances of this case. Neither has she breached the ministerial code as advised by Independent Advisor of Ministerial Standards.

Personally I do not conflate the circumstances of this case with RR's ability to conduct herself as Chancellor of the Exchequer of which we all no doubt have varying opinions and concerns.

I would particularly welcome Nigel Farage, and any other politician that faces public scrutiny of property purchase/sale/ lettings concerns, to also refer themselves to the Independent Advisor of Ministerial Standards and the Standards Commissioner for investigation. Then the public can also be provided with the relevant advice whether their actions have breached ministerial standards.

Lemon jam. 👏

Iam64

Lemon jam. 👏

Seconded 👏👏👏

4) to 6} may get her out of it

^ That is her contract stipulated she would be told if any licences were required and she was not.^

Is it known that she was not told??

And, there is the, not small matter, of what I posted above from the DM quote.

This all feels quite like the AR thing.
And she did not politically survive.

MaizieD

Has it occurred to anyone that it might have been Reeves' husband who dealt with letting their house?

Oh yes, I see that *grumppa^ has.

'If' Mr R did all the arrangements I can see that RR has enough political nous to not try to shift the blame onto him because that would just make it far worse in the eyes of her detractors. But it's worth considering.

fancythat

This all feels quite like the AR thing.
And she did not politically survive.

Quite frankly, no it doesn't, It's just a pathetic attempt to pull off the same trick.

If I buy a property I rely on solicitors , I'm not a lawyer. Letting agents are meant to be professionals who deal with these things- give the woman a break she put the letting into their hands.
It's their screw up. As go comparing her to Farage- a self serving, dishonest piece of work if ever there was one .

I don’t really think “not as bad as Farage” can be the justification for anything😬 I’m never convinced of anyone’s merit by the comparison with something worse.

When I let my little house I read every clause of the contract and asked questions about things I wasn’t sure of. I wrote additional clauses and clarifying statements on the contract to be included.

It was my duty as a landlord to ensure I was fulfilling my legal responsibilities.

Given that Registration is a key Labour policy Rachel Reeves could not have been unaware it was a possibility in her area. Not bothering to check is slapdash to me.

Thank you Lemon Jam for your brilliant information
Renting out property is a nightmare imo and when we did we trusted our agents to do the work we paid them to do!
As usual certain press love to make things bigger than they are for some politicians but not for others! It begs the question , why???
Since when has The Daily Mail been the favourite GN newspaper 🤷‍♀️
On another note Question Time might be interesting tonight as it comes from Bradford 👍 I applied but failed to get a seat in the audience !