Minister's controversial eviction 'will not be possible under her own rental reforms'

TV star Paul Shamplina (pictured) has highlighted that a Labour Minister under fire for evicting her tenants and then raising the rent by £700 a month would not be able to take these action under her own Government’s looming rental reforms.

Rushanara Ali (main image), who holds the brief at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, has been accused of ‘staggering hypocrisy’ by former Tory shadow housing minister Kevin Hollinrake, who said her actions were different to her words, given her comments in the past criticising landlords who ‘exploit tenants’.

The political storm has blown up after allegations in the i newspaper that Ali had ejected four tenants from a house she had been renting out in the East End of London but then re-listed for £1,000 more per month at £4,300, although it is reported that the new tenants agreed a lower monthly sum.

Market rates

Ali has since said she originally asked her previous tenants to leave the house in Bethnal Green prior to selling the property which she listed for £894,995 but, after failing to find a buyer, re-rented it at market rates.

LandlordZONE can reveal that the property remains for sale on both Rightmove and the listing agent’s website.

But Shamplina, who founded Landlord Action, has pointed out that not only would the Minister not be able to evict her tenants so easily once the Renters’ Rights Bill becomes law and Section 21 ‘no fault’ notices are banned, but would then not be able to rent it again for 12 months afterwards under the legislation's new and more draconian rules on evictions.

“It’s all fairly astonishing because she’s the homeless minister,” Shamplina told the Ian Collins TalkTV show.

He is not the only commentator to highlight the difficult position Ali has put herself in. Both the current shadow housing minister, James Cleverley and both the Scottish National Party and even Labour politicians have called for her to resign.

This includes Jess Barnard, a former leader of Young Labour and a member of the party’s national executive committee.