Labour homelessness minister Rushanara Ali threw four tenants out of her east London townhouse before relisting the property for £700 a month more in rent, The i Paper can reveal.
The landlord MP has previously spoken out against “private renters being exploited” and said her Government will “empower people to challenge unreasonable rent increases”.
Labour’s Renters’ Rights Bill, which will become law next year, prohibits landlords who have ended a tenancy in order to sell a property from relisting it for higher rent until at least six months after tenants have moved out.
A source close to Ali said her tenants had been told their tenancy would not be renewed and were offered the chance to stay on a rolling contract before she put the house up for sale – and the property was only relisted for rent after she did not find a buyer.
A spokesperson for Ali said: “Rushanara takes her responsibilities seriously and complied with all relevant legal requirements.”
Conservative shadow housing secretary James Cleverly called on Ali to consider her position, saying the allegations “would be an example of the most extreme hypocrisy and she should not have the job as homelessness minister”.
Last March, Ali rented out the four-bedroom townhouse, less than a mile from London’s Olympic Park, for £3,300 a month.
Tenant Laura Jackson, a self-employed restaurant owner and one of four people who rented the property, received an email in November telling her their lease would not be renewed and giving them four months’ notice to leave.
Just weeks after they had left the property, Ms Jackson saw the house had been put back up for rent at nearly £4,000 a month. When The i Paper visited the property on Wednesday new tenants confirmed they had moved in “four or five months ago” and were paying around £4,000 a month.
Ms Jackson, 33, told The i Paper: “It’s an absolute joke. Trying to get that much money from renters is extortion”.
The property was managed on Ali’s behalf by two lettings agencies: Jack Barclay Estates and Avenue Lettings.
At the time of ending the tenants’ contract, the firms also attempted to charge Ali’s tenants nearly £2,000 for the house to be repainted and £395 for professional cleaning.
Under the Tenant Fees Act 2019, landlords are prohibited from charging their tenants for professional cleaning.
They are also prohibited from charging tenants to repaint a home unless serious damage has occurred. Minor scratches or scuffs to paint work should be considered “reasonable wear and tear”, according to the Act.
Ms Jackson said: “It was really stressful. It was so much money – nearly £500 each! The property was not clean when we moved in; it was ridiculous and unfair.”
When Ms Jackson told the agencies they knew their landlord was a Labour MP, the fees were mysteriously dropped, she says.
“If we hadn’t known the charges were unlawful, we would have had to pay them. It’s exploitative.”
As a Labour voter, Ms Jackson added: “I just think it’s morally wrong that MPs can be landlords, especially in their own area. It’s a conflict of interest.”
The i Paper understands that Ali was told about the cleaning and repainting fees by her agency at this point and intervened to ensure the charges were cancelled.
The property is currently listed for sale at £894,995 – over £300,000 more than Ali paid for it in 2014, according to the Land Registry.
The townhouse, near Ali’s Bethnal Green and Stepney constituency, was originally put up for sale at £914,995 last November before the price was reduced in February.
The MPs’ register of interests shows that this is one of two rental properties owned by Ali, who has served as minister for homelessness since Labour’s election win in July 2024.
The Government has previously stated the end of a private rental contract is “one of the leading causes of homelessness”. Ali said in March that the Renters Rights’ Bill would “tackle the root cause of homelessness”.
The bill, which is currently passing through Parliament, states landlords can only ask tenants to leave if there has been antisocial behaviour or if they need to sell the property, or if the landlord or a family member needs to move in.
The new legislation will also ban fixed-term tenancies, like the one Ali’s tenants had, and transition them all to rolling contracts.
Ben Twomey, the chief executive of Generation Rent, said: “These allegations are shocking and a wake-up call to Government on the need to push ahead as quickly as possible to improve protections for renters.
“It is bad enough when any landlord turfs out their tenant to hike up the rent, or tries their luck with unfair claims on the deposit, but the minister responsible for homelessness knows only too well about the harm caused by this behaviour.”
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government declined to comment on Ali’s case but said the Government “will level the playing field between landlords and tenants, giving tenants greater security in their homes”.
Jack Barclay Estates and Avenue Lettings did not comment.
Additional reporting by Alex Dakers
