The letting agent which rented out Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ family home has apologised for an “oversight” which led to a failure to obtain the correct licence.
Gareth Martin, owner of Harvey & Wheeler, said the company’s previous property manager had offered to apply for a “selective” rental licence on behalf of their client but this never happened as the individual resigned before the tenancy began.
He added: “We deeply regret the issue caused to our clients as they would have been under the impression that a licence had been applied for.”
Reeves has apologised for the “inadvertent mistake” but said she accepts “full responsibility”.
Downing Street has spent the day defending the chancellor, with a spokesman insisting the prime minister has “full confidence” in her.
Reeves put her four-bedroom South London home up for rent in July 2024, when Labour won the general election and she moved into 11 Downing Street.
The house falls in area where Southwark Council requires private landlords to obtain a selective licence at a cost of £945.
The chancellor first became aware that her property did not have the correct licence on Wednesday when the Daily Mail, who first reported the story, contacted her.
In a letter to Sir Keir Starmer on Wednesday evening, she said “we were not aware that a licence was necessary”.
“As soon as it was brought to my attention, we took immediate action and have applied for the licence,” she wrote.
However, in a second letter to the PM on Thursday, Reeves said she had found correspondence confirming that the letting agent had told her husband a licence would be required and that the agency would apply for this on their behalf.
“They have also confirmed today they did not take the application forward, in part due to a member of staff leaving the organisation,” she wrote.
“Nevertheless, as I said yesterday, I accept it was our responsibility to secure the licence. I also take responsibility for not finding this information yesterday and bringing it to your attention.
“As I said to you today, I am sorry about this matter and accept full responsibility for it.”
Reeves has published the emails, which confirm the letting agent agreed to apply for the licence once the new tenant moved in.
In a statement, Mr Martin, the agency’s owner, said: “We alert all our clients to the need for a licence.
“In an effort to be helpful our previous property manager offered to apply for a licence on these clients’ behalf, as shown in the correspondence.
“That property manager suddenly resigned on the Friday before the tenancy began on the following Monday.
“Unfortunately, the lack of application was not picked up by us as we do not normally apply for licences on behalf of our clients; the onus is on them to apply. We have apologised to the owners for this oversight.
“At the time the tenancy began, all the relevant certificates were in place and if the licence had been applied for, we have no doubt it would have been granted.”
No 10 will be hoping the latest developments – and the apology from the letting agency used by Reeves and her husband – will bring this saga to an end.
But it is yet another day when the government completely lost control of the news agenda.
Ministers wanted to spend the day discussing their efforts to take dangerous knives off the streets, but that announcement barely registered.
Downing Street will still be worried this evening about how this all looks to voters.
The Conservatives have said the prime minister needs to “grow a backbone and start a proper investigation”.
A party spokesman said: “Last night Rachel Reeves said ‘she had not been made aware of the licensing requirement’.
“Today, we find out that Reeves was alerted to the need for a licence in writing by the estate agents.
“Having been caught out, the chancellor is now trying to make the estate agents take the blame, but Reeves never followed up with them to ensure that the licence had been applied for, or checked if the licence had been granted.
“Regardless, under the law, Reeves and her husband are responsible for ensuring the licence is granted.”