Labour housing minister hiked rent weeks after removing tenants...

[dutchman]

Britain's homelessness minister increased the rent on a house she owns by hundreds of pounds, allegedly "within weeks" of the previous tenants' contract ending.

The i Paper reported that four tenants who rented a house owned by Rushanara Ali in East London were sent an email last November giving them four months' notice that their lease would not be renewed.

It says the property was re-listed shortly after the tenants moved out, at a rent that was £700 a month higher.

Ali is Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Homelessness and Rough Sleeping. A spokesman said: "Rushanara takes her responsibilities seriously and complied with all relevant legal requirements."

A source close to the homelessness minister said it had been a fixed-term contract and that the house had been put up for sale while the tenants were there.

They said the tenants had been told they could stay on a rolling basis while the house was on the market, but they had chosen to go.

The i Paper said it had also been told the house was only re-listed as a rental because it had not sold.

The property in question was put on the market in November 2024 with an asking price of £914,995 but was reduced in February by £20,000.

Ben Twomey, chief executive of campaign group Generation Rent, said: "These allegations are shocking and a wake-up call to government on the need to push ahead as quickly as possible to improve protections for renters.

"It is bad enough when any landlord turfs out their tenant to hike up the rent, or tries their luck with unfair claims on the deposit, but the minister responsible for homelessness knows only too well about the harm caused by this behaviour."

Conservative Party chairman Kevin Hollinrake accused the minister of "staggering hypocrisy".

"She's spoken out about exploiting tenants, about providing more protections to tenants. You can't say those things, then do the opposite in practice, as a landlord. She's got to resign."

The SNP's depute leader at Westminster, Pete Wishart, said: "Once this shameful story broke, Labour's homelessness minister should have immediately resigned."

[rebbonk]

Hypocritical *****

Her position is untenable, sack her! - I doubt Starmer has the stones to do it!

[dutchman]

Rayner's just as bad, cancelled my social housing buyer's discount after pocketing her own. If he sacks Ali he should sack Rayner too!

[dutchman]

Homelessness Minister Rushanara Ali quits over rent hike claims

Rushanara Ali has resigned as homelessness minister, Downing Street has confirmed.

The move comes after she was accused of hypocrisy over the way she handled rent increases on a house she owns in east London.

There were calls for her to step down from homelessness charities and opposition politicians.

In a letter to the prime minister she said "at all times I have followed all relevant legal requirements" but that remaining in the role would be a "distraction from the ambitious work of this government".

In a story first broken by the the i Paper, external, a former tenant said she was sent an email in November giving four months' notice the lease would not be renewed.

She said shortly after she and the three other tenants had moved out, the house in east London had been re-listed at a rent £700 a month higher.

In a letter to the prime minister, Ali wrote: "It is with a heavy heart that I offer you my resignation as a minister."

Insisting that "at all times I have followed all relevant legal requirements" she added: "I believe I took my responsibilities and duties seriously, and the facts demonstrate this.

"However, it is clear that continuing in my role will be a distraction from the ambitious work of the government.

"I have therefore decided to resign from my ministerial position."

Ali's resignation is particularly awkward because of the subject matter, as Labour went into the election promising to strengthen the rights of private tenants.

The very rules they are taking through Parliament at the moment would have stopped what Ali has been accused of.

The government's Renters' Rights Bill is in its final stages in Parliament, and will ban landlords re-listing a property for rent, if they have ended a tenancy in order to sell, for six months.

Landlords must also give four months' notice to tenants when the legislation is passed, which is not expected to be until at least next year.

The law has not changed yet – but it is possible the homelessness minister's actions would have been contrary to the very rules her department was trying to introduce.

The Renters' Reform Coalition, which represents private renters, said her resignation was "the right decision".

"Her position was completely untenable," said director Tom Darling.

"The government must get on now and end no-fault evictions urgently so that no more tenants are subject to the kind of behaviour Rushanara Ali engaged in."