Rachel Reeves let out house unlawfully

She has referred herself to the committee apparently, however I saw this discussed on tv this morning and Gove actually defended her and said it's an easy mistake to make and she deserves the benefit of the doubt in this case. Starmer has decided not to take it any further.

Nor others in very high office.

We can.
MPs cant.

Romola

I may be wrong, but I don't think any of us on Gransnet has had the experience of handling a huge and responsible job with the opposition and the media making every effort to find ways of smearing them.
Both Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves (or their staff) have committed sins of omission, mistakes which they amended.
I find it distasteful the way people on this site jump on the bandwagon of reports in newspapers like the Daily Mail. Owners of those papers seek to make money by appealing to their readers' desire for metaphorical blood.

Could not agree more. How many of us when employed, raising children and chasing our tails have not missed an insurance date, an expired passport , missed appointment or whatever.
Surely there are far more important issues to address.

Naw, don't think you're wrong Romolo.

^Owners of those papers seek to make money by appealing to their readers' desire for metaphorical blood.

^

Well , they do more than that.
They actually seek and find the dirt.
It was the DM that found all this out. As I understand things.

I may be wrong, but I don't think any of us on Gransnet has had the experience of handling a huge and responsible job with the opposition and the media making every effort to find ways of smearing them.
Both Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves (or their staff) have committed sins of omission, mistakes which they amended.
I find it distasteful the way people on this site jump on the bandwagon of reports in newspapers like the Daily Mail. Owners of those papers seek to make money by appealing to their readers' desire for metaphorical blood.

At least two typos in that.

at all not all all

and, them not the

'storm in a teacup' but it's the size of the wooden spoons that matter.

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.

When I have been involved in signing contracts[cant all all see why she wouldnt be a signature on her own house], I refer to people I know, who go through things with us to check if all is watertight.

Chancellot of the Exchequor does not. By the looks of things.
Nor AR.
As if neither of the dont have people they can check and ask!

And posters are happy that their leaders dont do what a lot of ordinary people do.
Hmm.

I’m sure she didn’t do it intentionally, but it was incompetent.

She didn’t do what a landlord is required to do

It speaks to her competency to make informed decisions.

MaizieD

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

Doesn't make any difference. They are both members of the same household and in any situationwhen one of the responsible adults in a household may have special circumstances surrounding their job the other adults should be completely up to speed on this and know when things need to be drawn to their attention, or passed through checking procedures.

I'd have trusted the agent's advice.

She applied for a licence yesterday, wrote a letter of apology to Keir Starmer about her oversight, Sir Laurie Magnus , the ethics advisor, was asked to make a judgement round about midnight; he didn't consider she had breached the ministerial code, so KS accepted the apology, so that's all right then.
Apparently he needs her in place, because the incident in Parliament when she was weeping unsettled the market, and he, and the rest of the country , can't risk that again.

Just the small matter that these licences to rent property were required in Leeds, her constituency, and she did know about them.
Although I have some slight sympathy for her, she is the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and she is not proving a success in her job.

Sir Keir Starmer is facing calls to launch a “full investigation” after Rachel Reeves admitted she broke a legal housing requirement when she put her family home up for rent.

Why does he need to investigate it?
She’s admitted it and apologised for it, which seems to be the way for ministers to do things.

Indeed orly.

It's not her fault" And as soon as it was revealed she made an application - at 1130pm at night! She says her letting agent didn't inform her she needed a licence so I'm waiting to hear from them that the told her she did need one - just as Rayner's solicitors told her she needed to pay Stamp Duty on her third home.

Thank you LemonJam.

Loved the suggested that Farage would ever put himself forward for scrutiny.
Publicity...yes...legal scrutiny... how dare you suggest that.

I meant to say MPs are ONLY required to list the number of properties they rent out....

MP's Register of Interests August 2025- showed that 83 MPs are currently landlords. It is a fact that most PMs and chancellors rent out their homes as they move into Downing Street. It is also a fact that others have a constituency home and private home and claim expenses. All matters that the public needs to be assured of is above board and value for money.

I don't think the current MP's Register of Interests requires MPs to list the homes they own in their or joint names and in which is their prime residence and the number of properties they rent out. I think it should for transparency. After all the legal deeds of homes and names are publicly available on the Land Registry site so I do not think it is a stretch to expect a public serving MP to list all property transactions and ownership in the MP' s register of Interests.

Then I would suggest that all MPs, ie both landlords and homeowners, be required to make an ANNUAL declaration on the MP register of Interests that they have, in year to date and will continue to do so, comply will all property laws and regulations in respect of their rental dealings and house sale/purchase dealings. As they sign the declaration that gives them an annual reminder and opportunity to check with letting agents, tax advisors etc all continues to be in order, ie appropriate taxes paid, appropriate licences requested etc.

Further, for those MP landlords that filter their rental income via Ltd companies ( Nigel Farage being one well documented example) to reduce their tax liabilities, that they must be required at the same time to annually declare amount of tax saved as a result. ( Personally I would like to see MPs make their annual tax returns public but that is a whole new thread I guess)

Further that MPs have an obligation to refer themselves to the Independent Advisor of Ministerial Standards and the Standards Commissioner AS SOON as the concern is raised for investigation so the matter can be appropriately and fully investigated and the facts made known. Why hasn't Farage done this to date?

This should cut down on political game playing, focus the minds and consciences of all party MPs, not just incumbent MPs for opponents seeking resignation, and make everything more transparent to the public.

Nothing to see here says Starmer. Same as he said when Rayner was found to be lying. They’re a despicable group of people.

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 !

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.

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 .

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.