Southwark Liberal Democrats have written to the Labour Leader of Southwark Council and the Chief Executive, calling for urgent enforcement action against Chancellor Rachel Reeves after revelations that she let out her Dulwich Wood home without the required license.
Last year Reeve’s put her four bedroom detached home up for rent for £3,200 a month, she has received a rental income since September 2024.
The property falls under Southwark’s selective licensing scheme, introduced by Labour to raise standards in the private rented sector. It is understood the Chancellor has only now applied for a license, although this is not yet confirmed on the Southwark Council website.
The Liberal Democrats branded the Chancellor’s actions “hypocritical”, highlighting that she has championed selective licensing in her Leeds constituency while failing to comply with the rules in Southwark.
They are also demanding the council investigate whether the property met all requirements during the unlicensed period, and pursue the full enforcement measures available – which could include an unlimited fine or requiring the return of rent to tenants.
The Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has said the Chancellor’s position is “extremely tenuous” as Rachel Reeves has spent months “floating punishing tax hikes on family homes” whilst she has been “profiting from illegally renting out her house.”
Liberal Democrat Leader of the Opposition, Cllr Victor Chamberlain, said, “When Southwark Labour introduced this scheme, they promised it would crack down on bad landlords and protect tenants.
“Yet the Labour Chancellor has been caught breaking these very rules – and Southwark Council has failed to act.
“The Council claim to have a zero tollerance approach to unregistered and rogue landlords – so they need to act in this case.
“Rachel Reeves has been advocating for selective licensing in Leeds, but she couldn’t even follow the same rules here in Southwark. That is rank hypocrisy.
“If she can’t follow the housing laws set by her own party locally, how can anyone trust Labour to deliver for private renters nationally? Not only has this Government’s social housing regulator found “serious failings” in Southwark Labour as social landlords, they’re now failing to enforce the rules on private landlords too – even when it’s their own Ministers.
“If this Labour council wants to be taken seriously on housing, it must act now. The Liberal Democrats are the only party holding Labour to account and residents will remember that when they vote in May.”
Badenoch said, “If the Chancellor, who has spent months floating punishing tax hikes on family homes, has at the same time seemingly been profiting from illegally renting out her house, that would make her position extremely tenuous.
The Prime Minister must launch a full investigation. He once said “lawmakers can’t be lawbreakers”. If, as it appears, the Chancellor has broken the law, then he will have to show he has the backbone to act.”
