Sir Keir Starmer has informed Rachel Reeves that there will be no further actions taken regarding her unintentional failure to secure a rental license, although he expressed regret that initial emails regarding the matter were not shared with him. This decision comes after Ms. Reeves admitted to inadvertently violating local council housing regulations by not obtaining a “selective” rental license for her family property.
In a letter to Sir Keir Starmer, Ms. Reeves disclosed emails exchanged between her husband and the agency, confirming that the agency had agreed to apply for the license. Despite this agreement, the agency did not follow through with the application, citing a staff departure as a contributing factor. Ms. Reeves took full responsibility for the oversight, expressing regret for not bringing the information to Sir Keir’s attention sooner.
The Prime Minister, after reviewing the correspondence, acknowledged the incident as an inadvertent oversight on Ms. Reeves’s part, for which she has apologized and taken steps to rectify. Following consultation with the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards, it was concluded that no further action was necessary.
Sir Laurie Magnus, the Prime Minister’s independent standards adviser, confirmed that Ms. Reeves’s error was unintentional and found no evidence of bad faith in her conflicting statements regarding her awareness of the license requirement. He emphasized that recent emails revealed that Ms. Reeves’s husband was indeed made aware of the license need in 2024, even though he did not recall the exchange due to a busy period. Sir Laurie noted that while the situation led to some confusion, there was no indication of malicious intent.
In response, Sir Keir expressed satisfaction that the issue could be resolved without a formal investigation, following advice from his ethics adviser. Downing Street reiterated its confidence in Ms. Reeves, assuring that she will proceed with delivering the Budget on November 26 as planned.