Rushanara Ali has resigned as homelessness minister after reports she increased rent on a property she owns by hundreds of pounds – just weeks after the previous tenants’ contract ended.
There were calls for her to step down from homelessness charities and opposition politicians.
In a letter to the Prime Minister she has said that remaining in the role would be “a distraction from the ambitious work of this government. It is with a heavy heart that I offer you my resignation as a Minister.”
She insists that “at all times I have followed all relevant legal requirements” and she adds: “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 was in the government department introducing the Renters Rights Bill. The I newspaper claims that four tenants who rented a house owned by Ali in east London were sent an email last November giving them four months’ notice; the property was then re-listed shortly after the tenants moved out, with the rent increased from £3,300 pcm to £4,000 pcm.
Her action against her tenants, and subsequent resisting of the property, appeared at odds with those measures allowed when the Renters Rights Bill comes into effect in the autumn.
Ali’s letting the Prime Minister followed an attack by a former president of ARLA Propertymark who accused her of double standards.
Greg Tsuman – a former ARLA President and now managing director for lettings at Martyn Gerrard Estate Agents – comments: “This is exactly the kind of behaviour the government has claimed it’s trying to outlaw with the Renter’s Rights Bill. It’s a self-evidently hypocritical thing to do.
“This case also exemplifies a concerning trend across the country. Renters are being forced out of their homes or facing crushing rents. This is often wrongly blamed on landlord profiteering, but the real causes are poor policy and market forces.
“There are simply not enough properties where they are needed, and this is raising prices. The core issue, however, is a combination of tax changes, rising compliance costs, and tightening regulations, which have made the cost of renting out a property soar. Many landlords refuse to pass on these eye-watering costs or cannot make the sums add up, and so have left the market. This further shrinks an insufficient pool of housing. I fear that we are about to witness a repeat of the rental crisis that followed the pandemic.
“What is most concerning is that this case appears to show that the government is fully aware of the impact these changes are having on tenants. Despite increased protections on paper, they merely serve to raise rents, which are already exorbitant. It is bewildering that the government are continuing to press on ahead with its current course.”
The property had been managed on behalf of the Bethnal Green and Stepney MP by two lettings agencies who, the I newspaper claims, attempted to charge the tenants nearly £2,000 for the house to be repainted and £395 for professional cleaning.
Landlords are prohibited from charging tenants for professional cleaning or to repaint a home under the Tenant Fees Act 2019, unless there has been serious damage.
