Britain’s minister responsible for tackling homelessness, Rushanara Ali, resigned from the government on Thursday after reports revealed she had significantly increased the rent on a property she owns.
“It is with a heavy heart that I offer my resignation as a minister,” Ali, the under-secretary of state for homelessness in the Labour government, wrote in her letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Her departure followed an I-Paper report stating that she gave four tenants four months’ notice to leave a house she owned in London, then re-let it a few weeks later with the rent more than £700 higher.
Campaign groups against homelessness and opposition MPs insisted the 50-year-old had to step down.
“Following recent reports, I want to make it clear that I have always complied with all relevant legal requirements. I believe I took my responsibilities and duties seriously, and the facts support this,” Ali wrote in her letter, released by the prime minister’s office.
“However, it is evident that remaining in my role would distract from the government’s ambitious work,” she added.
Starmer thanked Ali for her “diligent work” at the housing ministry, praising her efforts to repeal the Vagrancy Act as having a significant impact.