Council said Edward Harris’s properties ‘failed to meet even most basic of living standards and legal requirements’
A Reform UK council chair has resigned after it was found he was illegally running two unsafe rental properties, according to a neighbouring local authority.
Edward Harris, the chair of Warwickshire county council, owned two unlicensed houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) in Staffordshire that had “multiple serious safety failures”, according to Labour-led Tamworth borough council.
In a statement on Thursday announcing his resignation as chair and as a member of Reform UK, Harris said he took “full accountability” for the condition of the homes and “made public my contrition for the situation and willingness to correct everything under my responsibilities as owner of those two properties”.
“A recent news story has been an unfair distraction of the great work of our council. While this matter is looked into, I feel it is my noble duty not to allow my chains of office to be put through a process.”
