Chancellor is backed by prime minister after saying she ‘inadvertently’ failed to pay fee required by London council
Rachel Reeves has admitted to “inadvertently” breaking housing rules by renting out her south London home without the specific £945 licence required by the local council.
The chancellor admitted the error to the prime minister, Keir Starmer, and to parliamentary ethics officers, after it was first disclosed by the Daily Mail.
Reeves put her family home in Southwark up for rent after moving into No 11 Downing Street last year following Labour’s election victory.
A spokesperson said the chancellor had used a letting agency to manage the process, and that while she should have been aware of the obligation to buy the licence, she had not been advised that she needed one.
