Homelessness minister Rushanara Ali is facing calls to resign after claims she hiked rent on a property she owns by hundreds of pounds “within weeks” of the previous tenants’ contract ending.The i Paper reported that four tenants who rented a house owned by Ali in East London were sent an email in November giving them four months’ notice their lease would not be renewed.However, the property was re-listed shortly after they moved out, at a rent £700 a month higher. Tory Party chairman Kevin Hollinrake accused Ali of “staggering hypocrisy” over the handling of the property – but Ali’s spokesman said she “takes her responsibilities seriously and complied with all relevant legal requirements”.Holinrake said Ali had to resign because she had “spoken out about exploiting tenants, about providing more protections to tenants”.He added: “You can’t say those things, then do the opposite in practice, as a landlord.”The SNP’s depute leader at Westminster, Pete Wishart, said: “Once this shameful story broke, Labour’s homelessness minister should have immediately resigned.”London Renters Union spokesperson Siân Smith said Ali’s actions were “indefensible” and she “must step down” due to a “clear conflict of interest”.Chancellor Rachel Reeves said she “didn’t understand” why the Conservatives were calling for Ms Ali to resign, saying: “I don’t know the details but Rushanara Ali seems to have done everything in accordance with the law.”A source close to Ali 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 ch …
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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnHomelessness minister Rushanara Ali is facing calls to resign after claims she hiked rent on a property she owns by hundreds of pounds “within weeks” of the previous tenants’ contract ending.The i Paper reported that four tenants who rented a house owned by Ali in East London were sent an email in November giving them four months’ notice their lease would not be renewed.However, the property was re-listed shortly after they moved out, at a rent £700 a month higher. Tory Party chairman Kevin Hollinrake accused Ali of “staggering hypocrisy” over the handling of the property – but Ali’s spokesman said she “takes her responsibilities seriously and complied with all relevant legal requirements”.Holinrake said Ali had to resign because she had “spoken out about exploiting tenants, about providing more protections to tenants”.He added: “You can’t say those things, then do the opposite in practice, as a landlord.”The SNP’s depute leader at Westminster, Pete Wishart, said: “Once this shameful story broke, Labour’s homelessness minister should have immediately resigned.”London Renters Union spokesperson Siân Smith said Ali’s actions were “indefensible” and she “must step down” due to a “clear conflict of interest”.Chancellor Rachel Reeves said she “didn’t understand” why the Conservatives were calling for Ms Ali to resign, saying: “I don’t know the details but Rushanara Ali seems to have done everything in accordance with the law.”A source close to Ali 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 ch …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
