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The Reeve's Defence

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 Should one of our member landlords be unfortunate enough to have overlooked or not been informed about a regulation, such as the need to have a licence to let their property, and they receive notification that they will be fined by the local authority as a result, we recommend they use the Reeves Defence.

What is the Reeves Defence?

Few will have missed recent coverage of Cabinet Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, and the fact that she failed to obtain a licence to let her family home in London before doing so. Apparently, it was a simple oversight and once informed, she moved swiftly to rectify the situation by applying for a licence.

After discussion with Sir Laurie Magnus, the Conservative-appointed independent ethics advisor to the Cabinet, the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer agreed that no further action was necessary.

Sir Keir said that this was because the breach was inadvertent, Reeves had acted promptly to rectify it by applying for a licence, and had apologised. "The ministerial code makes clear that in certain circumstances, an apology is sufficient resolution" Sir Keir wrote.

So if you find yourself in a similar position, apply for the appropriate licence straight away, apologise and all will be well. 

Digging Deeper

Rachel Reeves rental property is in Southwark, south London and the council there states: "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".

In the recent past, Southwark have fined 2 landlords who failed to obtain a licence when informed of the need. Letting agent Tunde Coker pleaded guilty and was fined £2,256 and landlord Rashidat Adebukola Edekunie-Mohammed also pleaded guilty and was fined £1,128 in fines and costs at Croydon Magistrates Court.

Contrast this apparent lenience with Portsmouth, who act as judge and jury as well as policing and setting local policy and arbitrarily levy £10,000 fines after first encouraging tenants to apply for Rent Repayment Orders. No 21 days to correct the oversight, no chance to plead ones case in a court of law, no fine commensurate with the issue. The difference being that when you take a landlord to court, any fines that landlord pays go to central government whereas when PCC levy a fine of their choosing they get to keep the monies collected – not conducive to encouraging the behaviours we would hope to see in a group of public servants whose sole role is to improve the city's housing supply, affordability and standards. You could argue the practice has the reverse effect on supply and affordability and does nothing to improve standards.

Sadly, we have had several members suffer in this manner and all of them have now sold up and vowed never again to let property in Portsmouth. 

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About the author

Martin Silman

Martin began his landlord journey 30 years ago, while working in an international role for a global telecommunications company. Since retiring he has extended his portfolio, which he manages with his wife, but has always focussed on the ‘small student HMO’ sector preferring to offer homes in the community for small groups to the more common ‘pack them in and take the money’ mentality. He has chaired the PDPLA for the past 12 years and has overseen the Associations transition from small local self-help group to a much larger and more professional institution which is recognised and listened to nationally. Alongside his PDPLA role, he also has leadership roles in a number of other local organisations – bringing his unique perspective, driving for change and increased use of technology while respecting the history that brought us here.

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