Britain’s homelessness minister increased the rent on a house she owns by hundreds of pounds, allegedly “within weeks” of the previous tenants’ contract ending.
The i Paper reported that four tenants who rented a house owned by Rushanara Ali in East London were sent an email last November giving them four months’ notice that their lease would not be renewed.
It says the property was re-listed shortly after the tenants moved out, at a rent that was £700 a month higher.
Ali is Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Homelessness and Rough Sleeping. A spokesman said: “Rushanara takes her responsibilities seriously and complied with all relevant legal requirements.”
A source close to the homelessness minister said it had been a fixed-term contract and that the house had been put up for sale while the tenants were there.
They said the tenants had been told they could stay on a rolling basis while the house was on the market, but they had chosen to go.
The i Paper said it had also been told the house was only re-listed as a rental because it had not sold.
The government’s Renters Rights Bill, which is in its final stages in Parliament, will ban landlords who end a tenancy to sell a property from re-listing it for six months.
It will also abolish fixed-term tenancies and mandate that four months’ notice must be given by a landlord who wishes to regain possession of a property to sell.
Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty said: “Rushanara Ali’s position surely cannot be tenable. She must resign.”