UK Homelessness Minister Rushanara Ali resigned on 7 August after criticism over the handling of a property she owns in east London. Downing Street said the minister had offered her resignation to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, stating in her letter that continuing in office would be a “distraction” despite her belief she had complied with all legal requirements. Media reports said four tenants who rented the four-bedroom house were told last November that their lease would not be renewed, and the property was re-listed within weeks of their departure at £4,000 a month—£700, or 21%, more than they had been paying. The episode drew accusations of hypocrisy because Ali had previously championed protections against “unreasonable” rent increases. Opposition politicians and housing campaigners seized on the claims, with Conservative Party chairman Kevin Hollinrake calling the conduct “staggering hypocrisy” and groups such as Generation Rent urging faster reforms. The incident comes as Labour’s Renters’ Rights Bill nears final passage through Parliament; the legislation would ban landlords who end a tenancy to sell a property from re-letting it for six months and scrap fixed-term agreements.