Image source, Getty Images

Just weeks after Angela Rayner was forced to resign over underpaying stamp duty, another member of the prime minister's top team faced extensive scrutiny about their housing arrangements.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves sent a message to Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Wednesday apologising after it emerged she and her husband had failed to obtain a licence needed to rent out their London home before moving last year.

Starmer yesterday said no further investigation into the incident would be needed as the breach was "inadvertent" - but pressure mounted from the opposition for more details.

This afternoon, Reeves's husband provided the PM and his ethics adviser with "new information" - namely, email exchanges between himself and the couple's letting agent.

The messages showed that the estate agency, Harvey Wheeler, hadn't obtained the necessary licence despite offering to on the couple's behalf.

The agent has apologised for the matter in a full statement, owing it to a staffing issue

However, Reeves has renewed her apology, admitting in a letter to the PM that obtaining the licence was the couple's responsibility

For the Conservatives, there are still questions unanswered. They have urged Starmer to launch a "proper investigation" into the incident.

• We're ending our live coverage now. You can read more about the the revelations of Reeves's rental arrangements here

Jack Fenwick
Political correspondent

The latest developments - and the apology from the letting agency used by Rachel Reeves and her husband - will likely bring this particular tale to an end.

While the chancellor acknowledges that she was ultimately responsible for making sure this licence was acquired, the agency had told her husband that they'd put in the application on their behalf.

But it's 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.

They went through one row about a senior cabinet minister's housing arrangements just a few weeks ago when Angela Rayner resigned, now they've had to endure another. And this time about a minister already under pressure.

In her 15 months as chancellor, Rachel Reeves has faced tricky questions about the reliability of her CV and her acceptance of free concert tickets.

Plans to cut winter fuel payments and disability benefits - that she championed - have had to be ditched because of intense backbench pressure.

And in less than a month she'll deliver a Budget that's widely expected to feature tax rises, despite saying last year that she wouldn't do it.

At Kemi Badenoch's event this morning, it was clear that her party sees the reputation of the Chancellor as an area that they can prod at.

Expect them to talk a lot about her in the coming weeks.

It's been less than 24 hours since Rachel Reeves's rental arrangements suddenly came into the spotlight. Here's a quick timeline of events:

• On Wednesday evening, the Daily Mail publishes an investigation revealing the chancellor has not obtained the licence needed to rent out the London house she previously lived in with her family
• After being contacted by the paper ahead of publication, Reeves refers herself to the government's independent ethics watchdog
• Later, the chancellor writes to the prime minister admitting to a rules breach and apologising, saying it was done in error and that she has taken steps to apply for the correct licence
• The prime minister responds in writing, saying a further investigation is not necessary because the breach was "inadvertent"
• Today, Downing Street says "new information" came to light - namely, an exchange of emails sent and received by Reeves's husband and her letting agency
• The correspondence shows that arrangements had been made for the agency to apply for a selective licence on the couple's behalf
• The agency apologises for not obtaining the proper licence, owing this failure to a member of staff leaving the organisation
• Reeves tells Starmer that she accepts it was her family's responsibility to secure the licence - which Southwark council require landlords in specific borough areas to hold

Whether or not any action will be taken in light of this "new information" is yet to be relayed to us by Downing Street.

A spokesperson for the Conservatives says that - regardless of assurances received from the estate agent - Reeves and her husband were "responsible" for ensuring a renting licence had been granted.

"Last night Rachel Reeves said 'she had not been made aware of the licensing requirement'," the Conservatives say.

"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."

The Tories call on Starmer to launch a "proper investigation" into the incident.

The government has published an email exchange between the chancellor's husband and the letting agency. It took place in summer 2024, just after the general election.

On 17 July, the letting agent tells Reeves's husband that electrical tests need to be carried out on their property, before adding: "Once we have that to hand we will need to apply for a licence under the Selective Licensing Scheme via Southwark Council."

In an email dated 22 July, the letting agent tells the Reeves's husband "I can arrange the Selective Licence once the tenants move in - would you me to arrange for you as well after move in?"

Four days later, Reeves's husband asks how much the the selective licence and some other things will cost, adding: "Subject to this, I would be grateful if you could arrange these."

The letting agent responds the same day to advise that the cost is £900 and offers to arrange for the electric test needed to get the licence too.

On 13 August, Reeves's husband belatedly gets back and says "yes please, do go ahead" and arrange for the licence.

In a response the same day, the letting agent says "I will do the Selective Licence".

As we just reported, Downing Street has released a letter from Rachel Reeves to Keir Starmer, plus emails from Reeves's family to the letting agent.

In the letter to Starmer, she says there is an email chain confirming the letting agent wrote to her husband to confirm a selective licence would be required, and the agent had agreed to apply on the couple's behalf.

"They have also confirmed today they did not take the application forward, in part due to a member of staff leaving the organisation," the letter reads.

"Nevertheless, as I said yesterday, I accept it was our responsibility to secure the licence."

You can read the full letter below:

Image source, Downing Street

We've just received redacted copies of emails between the chancellor's family and the letting agency they used to rent out their London home.

We've also got a letter from Reeves to Starmer, sent today.

We're going through them now and will bring you key lines shortly.

We've just heard for the first time from the letting agency which oversaw the renting out of Rachel Reeves's former family home.

They were previously declining to comment but Gareth Martin, owner of Harvey Wheeler, has now released a statement - here it is in full:

"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.

"Our clients would have been under the impression that a licence had been applied for. Although it is not our responsibility to apply, we did offer to help with this.

"We deeply regret the issue caused to our clients as they would have been under the impression that a licence had been applied for."

Harvey Wheeler, the London estate agents used by Rachel Reeves to rent out her property in south London, have apologised to her for an "oversight".

The firm says they did not apply for a licence on her behalf, having offered to do so.

We will bring you the full statement in a moment.

Just over an hour ago, a spokesman for the prime minister said new information had "come to light" after a review of emails sent and received by Rachel Reeves's husband.

Reeves is married to Nick Joicey, a senior civil servant who's on secondment at Oxford University, according to its website, external.

Joicey is also a former speechwriter to Gordon Brown, during his time as chancellor.

Joicey and Reeves met during her secondment to the UK embassy in Washington before she became an MP.

He and Reeves have two children. They put their south London family home up for rent following Labour's victory at the 2024 general election, when they moved to Downing Street.

"This whole thing stinks," says Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch in a new post on X., external

She repeats her call for Keir Starmer to order a full investigation into Reeves, telling the prime minister that "if Reeves has broken the law, grow a backbone and sack her!"

Image source, EPA

For a PM who made such a big deal about standards, another difficult daypublished at 17:08 GMT

17:08 GMT

Jack Fenwick
Political correspondent

There’s been something of a sense of déjà vu around Westminster today, with another senior cabinet minister caught up in a row about a house they own.

Just weeks after Angela Rayner was forced to resign as deputy prime minister after it emerged that she’d underpaid stamp duty, now it’s the chancellor having to answer questions.

The prime minister has dismissed calls for a full investigation into Rachel Reeves's case - but today his official spokesman refused to answer a whole host of questions.

Starmer had a brief exchange last night with the independent adviser on ministerial standards, Sir Laurie Magnus, during which it was decided that an apology was "a sufficient resolution".

Magnus is now reviewing emails about the rental arrangements that were sent and received by the chancellor’s husband.

But Downing Street has refused to say whether Magnus believed the chancellor broke the ministerial code.

The spokesman also refused to say whether he was able to view any evidence, other than the chancellor’s own account of what happened, and refused to say if Reeves will resign if she broke the law.

Sources close to the chancellor have said that her letting agent told her it would advise her if the licence was needed and did not do so. That may turn out to be enough to let her off the hook.

But for a prime minister who made such a big deal out of ministerial standards when he was in opposition, this is yet another difficult day.

Sources close to Rachel Reeves say the letting agent tasked with renting out her family home told the chancellor it would tell her if a selective licence was needed, and did not do so.

Visited this afternoon by BBC News, the Dulwich-based estate agent says they will not comment on the story.

A little earlier, we heard from Southwark Council, from whom Reeves should have bought the licence.

The council said it only takes enforcement action against landlords who do not apply for a licence within 21 days of receiving a warning.

"When we become aware of an unlicensed property, we issue a warning letter advising the landlord that they have 21 days to apply for a licence - enforcement action such as fines are reserved for those who do not apply within that time or where a property is found to be in an unsafe condition.

"We cannot comment on individual cases."

It's not yet clear if Southwark Council issued a warning letter to Reeves - or when the council became aware she was breaking the rules.

Image source, Rightmove

On Wednesday, Rachel Reeves admitted she did not obtain a licence needed to rent out her south London home.

After Labour won the general election in July 2024, Reeves's family home was put up for rent for £3,200 a month.

It is in part of Southwark where the council requires private landlords to hold a selective licence, which cost £945.

In a letter to Keir Starmer, the chancellor apologised for her "inadvertent" error in not applying for the licence.

The issue came to her attention, she says, when the Daily Mail approached her for a comment.

"This was an inadvertent mistake," she wrote in her letter. "As soon as it was brought to my attention, we took immediate action and have applied for the licence."

Starmer dismissed calls for an investigation after consulting his independent ethics adviser.

Image source, Reuters

More now from the prime minister's official spokesperson.

He says: "Following a review of emails sent and received by the chancellor’s husband, new information has come to light.

“This has now been passed to the prime minister and his independent adviser.

"It would be inappropriate to comment further.”

Starmer was told about the further information this afternoon by the chancellor. The emails will be published later today.

The spokesman continues: "It is the right that the independent adviser on ministerial standards looks at all the relevant correspondence on this matter since the new information has come to light."

No 10 has insisted the prime minister has full confidence in the chancellor.

The prime minister's official spokesperson guaranteed that Rachel Reeves will deliver the Budget on 26 November.

Sir Keir Starmer and his independent ethics watchdog have been passed "new information" about Chancellor Rachel Reeves's rental arrangements, Downing Street says.

The information relates to emails sent and received by her husband, according to No 10.

This latest development comes after Reeves apologised for breaking rules when renting out her family home by not obtaining a licence.

This is a developing situation - we will bring you more detail soon.