A few weeks before she delivers budget, timing of revelation chancellor failed to buy rental licence could not be worse
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Less than a month before she is due to deliver the budget, Rachel Reeves has admitted breaking rules by failing to apply for a licence from her local council before letting out her south London home.
Keir Starmer has accepted an apology from Reeves, declared the matter closed and insisted that a fuller investigation isn’t necessary – but the Conservatives are calling on the chancellor to resign. What has she done and how serious are things for her?
After Labour won the election last year and Reeves became chancellor, she and her family moved into 11 Downing Street. In September 2024 she let out her family home in Dulwich, south-east London, for a reported £3,200 a month. The Daily Mail revealed on Wednesday night that Reeves needed a licence to do so – and had failed to obtain one.
