Sir Keir Starmer is renting out his family’s £2million family home in North London, making thousands of pounds a month while he is living in Downing Street.
Documents last night revealed for the first time that the Prime Minister is the ‘owner of [a] let family home’. He has owned a property in Kentish Town for 20 years and paid off the mortgage last year.
The new Register of Ministerial Interests revealed he is not the only landlord in government. Rachel Reeves, the chancellor who oversaw a tax-raising Budget last week, is also renting out her home while she and her family live in a subsidised flat in Whitehall.
And Labour’s Minister for Homelessness, Rushanara Ali, revealed she owns two residential ‘rental properties’, while Ms Reeves’ deputy, Tulip Saddiq, confirmed she is the ‘owner of let residential properties’.
The Starmers bought their home in 2004 for £650,000. Since then they have carried out renovations, including a loft conversion involving the installation of two rooflights and a dormer window.
The four-bedroom property, which is in a sought-after area, is now estimated to be worth £2 million. The rental rate for such a home in the area would be between £3,000 and £5,000 per month, the Times reported.
Added to his £1 million gold-plated pension pot, the Prime Minister is believed to be worth around £3 million.
His decision to rent out the house is in contrast to the previous prime minister Rishi Sunak, who was so rich he maintained private properties in Richmond and west London while living in No10.
But many of his Tory Cabinet were commercial landlords, including chancellor Jeremy Hunt and Andrew Griffith, who is now the new shadow business secretary.
Last week it was revealed Ms Reeves and her husband are reportedly collecting £74,000 a year in rent from two properties – despite hammering landlords in this week’s Budget.
Stamp duty costs shot up from three to five per cent in the Chancellor’s first Budget, targeting landlords and homeowners buying a second property.
Critics of the move warned the surcharge on extra properties ‘makes no sense’ and would ultimately see the costs pushed onto tenants.
The Telegraph reported that Ms Reeves and partner Nicholas Joicey, a civil servant, let out their four-bedroom home in south London for around £3,200 a month, having moved into Downing Street.
Mr Joicey is also believed to have let his two-bed flat in central London, with a market rental of nearly £3,000 a month, according to the Bricks&Logic property website.
A monthly income of £6,200 would scale up to £74,400 over a period of 12 months.