Homelessness minister Rushanara Ali is facing calls to resign over her handling of a rental property, following reports she raised the rent at her east London townhouse by £700 weeks after the previous tenants’ contract ended.
Shadow housing secretary Kevin Hollinrake accused the Labour minister of “staggering hypocrisy”, saying: “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.”
Ms Ali has been accused of raising the rent on the property, which has four bedrooms, from £3,300 to £4,000 after the previous tenants vacated the property.
According to the i paper, the previous occupants were handed just four months’ notice last November, informing them that their lease would not be renewed.
And weeks after they had left, the house was reportedly once again up for rent – but for £700 more each month.
It is understood that Ms Ali – who is the Labour MP for Bethnal Green and Stepney – told the occupants their tenancy would not be renewed as the house was being put up for sale and were offered a rolling contract while the house was on the market, but chose to leave.
The property was then re-listed as a rental when a buyer could not be found, it is understood.
Mr Hollinrake said her handling of the situation seemed “extremely unfair”.
Asked whether an investigation should take place before a resignation, he said: “Well, I think the facts are pretty clear, and that’s up to the prime minister, I think, to do whatever, to take whatever steps he needs to take to ascertain the facts of the matter.
“But the facts of the matter, as we see today, and I always believe people have a right of reply, of course, but the prime minister should investigate. If these these facts are as we’ve heard that they are today, then she must resign.”
Shadow housing secretary James Cleverly echoed Mr Hollinrakes calls, saying the allegations “would be an example of the most extreme hypocrisy and she should not have the job as homelessness minister”.
Meanwhile, Tom Darling, director at the Renters’ Reform Coalition, added: “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 reletting after eviction from 12 months to 6 months.
“The government must remove this amendment, and at the very least Minister Ali must recuse herself from any discussions on this within government.”
Ms Ali has previously criticised “private renters being exploited and discriminated against” when defending the government’s Renters Reform Bill, which will eliminate “no-fault” evictions, where landlords can end tenancies without a specific reason using Section 21 notice.
She said the legislation would “empower people to challenge unreasonable rent increases”.
The bill will also stop landlords who have terminated a tenancy to sell the property from re-listing it with higher rent until six months or more after the occupants vacated the premises.
The Renters’ Rights Bill has received its third reading in the House of Lords having already been through the Commons.
A spokesperson for Ms Ali told The Independent: “Rushanara takes her responsibilities seriously and complied with all relevant legal requirements.”
