Homelessness minister resigns after ‘throwing out tenants and hiking rent by £700’

Rushanara Ali has resigned as homelessness minister after reports emerged she issued her tenants a notice to leave as her east London property was being sold.

The MP for Bethnal Green and Stepney said she took the decision with a “heavy heart.”

In an open letter to the Prime Minister, she said that remaining in the role would be “a distraction from the ambitious work of this Government.”

She told the Prime Minister in a letter: “It has been the honour of my life to have played my part in first securing and then serving as part of this Labour Government. You have my continued commitment, loyalty and support.”

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The MP for Bethnal Green and Stepney has resigned

The i Paper reports that four tenants who rented a house in east London from Ali were sent an email last November saying their lease would not be renewed, which also gave them four months’ notice to leave.

Ali’s property, near the London Stadium in Stratford was then re-listed with a £700 rent increase within weeks.

The house, rented on a fixed-term contract, was put up for sale while the tenants were living there, and it was only re-listed as a rental because it had not sold.

Ali’s former tenant Laura Jackson said she was one of four tenants who received an email giving four months notice to leave the property, for which they collectively paid £3,300 in rent. She said: “It’s an absolute joke. Trying to get that much money from renters is extortion.”

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Labour’s Rushanara Ali has resigned from her Government role

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