The Minister for Homelessness’ gaffe has proved MPs should never be landlords

There we have it, folks. The homelessness minister has resigned – not for failing to fix the housing crisis, but for becoming the poster girl of everything wrong with it.

Rushanara Ali quit last night after it was reported that she evicted tenants from her east London townhouse and then, within weeks, re-listed it for rent for an extra £700 a month.

Yes, the same woman who was in charge of fighting homelessness was allegedly evicting tenants and hiking rents like a dodgy letting agent.

You can’t make this up.

Her letter of resignation to the Prime Minister claimed that her continued presence in the role would be a ‘distraction’ to the work of government. No kidding! That’s the coward’s way out. 

But it’s not only about Ali. This fiasco exposes a far greater problem – the number of MPs lining their own pockets as landlords while claiming to care about renters.

Let’s be real: This is a conflict of interest so obvious it’s almost hilarious. Almost.

Rushanara Ali is just one of around 85 MPs who define themselves as landlords. As of August 2024, they have around 184 rental properties combined. And shockingly – to me, anyway – three of the top five landlords in the Commons are current Labour MPs (again, as of last year).

I don’t understand how you can be a Labour MP – and also a landlord.

If I could, I’d ask this question of Jas Athwal, Labour MP for Ilford South, who – as of last year, at least – co-owns a jaw-dropping 18 rental properties.

You’d think maybe one or two – a flat inherited from Grandma, perhaps.

But 18? At that point, it’s less ‘landlord,’ more ‘property empire’.

This conflict of interest matters more than ever. The Renters Rights’ Bill is in its final stages in Parliament and aims to introduce restrictions on landlords when it comes to unjustified evictions, among others.

This Bill isn’t just some formality. It matters – because it could make a real difference to our lives.

I know someone who has spent the last month living in a flat where black mould creeps up the walls and the windows don’t shut all the way – all while paying over £1,500 a month. Whenever he complains, there’s always that same underlying fear: If I push too hard, I could be evicted.

That’s what this bill aims to fix – and yet so many of the MPs debating this Bill are landlords themselves. How can they possibly debate it objectively?

One reform introduced by the Renters’ Rights Bill will ban landlords from ending a tenancy in order to sell and then re-listing that same property for rent within six months.

In other words, good old-fashioned landlord tricks; not to mention the very action Ali’s been accused of.

Ali’s letter to the prime minister claims she ‘followed all relevant legal requirements’. But merely because it is legally permissible doesn’t always make it right or fair.

Four tenants were allegedly given four months’ notice the lease would not be renewed and claimed they were informed by letting agencies that they’d be charged nearly £2,400 for the house to be repainted and professionally cleaned; despite the fact that landlords are not allowed to charge for professional cleaning.

All before they then reported seeing the same flat re-emerge on the rental market for more money. 

One of these tenants, Laura Jackson, summed it up herself as ‘an absolute joke’.

In the end, though, it’s far from humorous. It’s a kick in the teeth for millions of tenants driven out of their homes.

What if judges ruled over companies they had stakes in? Or civil servants owned private businesses connected to their departmental work? That would be scandalous, wouldn’t it? 

But when MPs are landlords, somehow it’s okay.

This isn’t about envy of wealth. If an MP wants to purchase property or stocks when they retire, go for it. However, sitting MPs, who are instrumental in determining rental policy shouldn’t have a financial stake in the outcome. 

Because currently, it reeks.

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Keir Starmer has vowed his government will ‘make sure everyone can grow up in the secure housing they deserve’.

Good. Then demonstrate it.

Ali’s resignation is a start but this can’t end with a single MP quietly stepping aside. Labour – and all parties, frankly – need to go further.

Ban sitting MPs from being landlords. Full stop.

No more resignations. No more cringeworthy ‘Well, technically she didn’t actually break the law’ non-apologies. Just a simple, clear rule. If you help make the laws, you shouldn’t gain from the problem you’re meant to sort.

Ali’s resignation gives Starmer a chance to do the right thing.

If Labour is to maintain renters’ confidence – and there are millions of us – then it needs to act now.

Because if your landlord also helps create the laws, then the system was never built to serve you. It was built to protect them.

Right now, Parliament is our problem, not our protection. And that needs to change.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk. 

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What has your experience of renting been? Have your say in the comments below