Rushanara Ali resigned as the UK’s homelessness minister late on 7 August after reports that she evicted four tenants from a house she owns in east London and re-listed the property weeks later with the monthly rent increased by £700 to £4,000. Downing Street confirmed her departure shortly after she tendered her resignation letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer. In the letter, Ali said she had ‘followed all relevant legal requirements’ but acknowledged that remaining in office risked distracting from the government’s housing agenda. She maintains the tenancy ended because the home was put up for sale; it was subsequently advertised for rent again when no buyer emerged. The episode drew sharp criticism from homelessness charities and opposition politicians, who highlighted that Ali had publicly championed tougher curbs on ‘unreasonable rent increases’. Those measures are contained in Labour’s Renters’ Rights Bill, now in its final stages in Parliament, which would prevent landlords from re-letting a property for six months after terminating a tenancy to sell, cap rent rises to market levels and require four months’ notice. Ali is the latest in a string of junior ministers to leave Starmer’s government since its landslide victory last year, adding to pressure on the administration as it promotes reforms intended to strengthen tenants’ protections and reduce homelessness.