Homelessness minister resigns after 'removing tenants and hiking rent'

Rushanara Ali has resigned as homelessness minister after reportedly hiking the rent on a property she owns in London by £700 a month weeks after the previous tenants’ contract ended.

In a letter to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, she said that remaining in the role would be “a distraction from the ambitious work of this government”.

The i Paper claims that Ali told her tenants that she would not be renewing their lease and gave them four months to leave the property she owned in east London.

Ali’s property was then allegedly re-listed just weeks later, with a £700 increase on the rent, a rise of more than 20%.

Kevin Hollinrake, the Conservative Party chairman, accused the minister of exploiting tenants and called for her to step down.

“I think it shows staggering hypocrisy. Rushanara Ali has been somebody who’s obviously a Government minister in charge of homelessness.

“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.”

He said the conduct appeared to be “unethical, not illegal,” but “we can’t just say one thing and do another”.

Prior to her resignation, a spokesperson for Ali said: “Rushanara takes her responsibilities seriously and complied with all relevant legal requirements.”

The house, rented on a fixed-term contract, was put up for sale while the tenants were living there, and it was only re-listed as a rental because it had not sold, according to the i Paper.

The report comes as the Renters’ Rights Bill is nearing its journey through parliament, which is hoping to clamp down on what the government sees as unfair rental practices.

The bill includes measures to ban landlords who end a tenancy to sell a property from re-listing it for six months, abolish fixed-term tenancies and ensure landlords give four months’ notice if they want to sell their property.

Tom Darling, director at the Renters’ Reform Coalition, said: “It’s mind-boggling that we have a homelessness minister who has just evicted four people in order to rake in more rent – something that will soon be illegal under the Renters’ Rights Bill her own department is bringing through Parliament.

“The government are currently considering an amendment to the legislation from the House of Lords which reduces the ban on re-letting after eviction from 12 months to six months.

“The government must remove this amendment, and at the very least, Minister Ali must recuse herself from any discussions on this within Government.”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said she “didn’t understand” why the Conservatives were calling for Ali to resign, saying: “I don’t know the details, but Rushanara Ali seems to have done everything in accordance with the law.”