Estate agents apologises for not applying for a rental licence on behalf of Chancellor
Rachel Reeves admitted not having the correct documentation for her south London property
The estate agents used by Rachel Reeves to rent out her property in south London have apologised to her for an "oversight" after they did not apply for a licence on her behalf, having offered to do so.
The Chancellor and Leeds West and Pudsey MP previously admitted to mistakenly breaching local council housing rules by failing to obtain a rental licence for her family home in Southwark.
Harvey Wheeler, the estate agents used by Ms Reeves to rent out the property, said the property manager responsible for applying for the licence on her behalf had "suddenly resigned" before the tenancy began.
Gareth Martin, owner of Harvey Wheeler, said: "We alert all our clients to the need for a licence. In an effort to be helpful, our previous property manager offered to apply for a licence on these clients' behalf, as shown in the correspondence.
"That property manager suddenly resigned on the Friday before the tenancy began on the following Monday.
"Unfortunately, the lack of application was not picked up by us as we do not normally apply for licences on behalf of our clients; the onus is on them to apply. We have apologised to the owners for this oversight.
"At the time the tenancy began, all the relevant certificates were in place and if the licence had been applied for, we have no doubt it would have been granted.
"Our clients would have been under the impression that a licence had been applied for. Although it is not our responsibility to apply, we did offer to help with this.
"We deeply regret the issue caused to our clients as they would have been under the impression that a licence had been applied for."