Sir Keir Starmer has informed Rachel Reeves that no further action will be taken regarding her unintentional failure to obtain a rental license. Although it was regrettable that initial emails about the arrangement were not shared with him, Ms. Reeves will not face additional consequences.

Ms. Reeves had previously acknowledged mistakenly violating local council housing regulations by not securing a “selective” rental license for her family property. She later disclosed emails exchanged between her husband and the agency, confirming the agreement with Harvey & Wheeler to apply for the license. Despite taking full responsibility for the oversight, she stated her husband and the agency failed to follow through on the application due to staff changes.

In a letter to Sir Keir Starmer, Ms. Reeves explained that correspondence revealed the agency’s agreement to apply for the license on their behalf on July 17, 2024. She admitted to the responsibility of obtaining the license and apologized for not bringing this information to his attention sooner.

The Prime Minister, after reviewing the situation, considered it an inadvertent failure to obtain the necessary license, for which Ms. Reeves had apologized and was now addressing. Following advice from the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards, no further action was deemed necessary.

Sir Laurie Magnus, the Prime Minister’s independent standards adviser, maintained that Ms. Reeves had unintentionally erred, noting no evidence of malicious intent in her contradictory statements regarding her awareness of the license requirement. He highlighted that recent emails revealed her husband’s awareness of the license need in 2024, though he did not recall the exchange due to a busy period.

In response, Sir Keir expressed satisfaction that the issue could be resolved without an investigation, following consultation with his ethics adviser. Downing Street reiterated confidence in Ms. Reeves, assuring that she would present the Budget on November 26 as planned.