As seen in:The Negotiator

With recent headlines reminding us that even Treasury chiefs and Deputy Prime Ministers can miss the fine print (and the fine), Yuno is stepping in with a friendly “check-your-compliance” offer for Honourable Members and Peers with property portfolios.

Before the next FOI, press query or constituent complaint lands on the mat, here are the Top 5 Do’s and Top 5 Don’ts every MP-landlord (and most other landlords too) should bookmark.

✅ Top 5 Do’s

1) Do verify whether your property requires a licence.
As Reeves admitted, she failed to apply for a selective licence for her South London rental.  If you’re letting a property (especially an HMO or multi-let), check your local authority for any schemes before letting the wallpaper peel. These can be area-specific and may not extend to the whole local authority area of responsibility, and may not apply to all properties or tenant types. They can also come into effect with limited notice, so re-checking regularly is important, or use Yuno’s live compliance monitoring and alerting.

2) Do obtain and keep current safety and regulatory certificates.
From gas safety to electrical compliance and fire alarms. Licensing schemes expect the lot. Councils can require documentation to be provided to them on short notice, 7 days in most cases.

3) Do declare interests and keep your portfolio records clean.
 Whether you let a flat, house or “staff accommodation”, transparency matters. If you’re a Minister with a side let, make sure it’s in the books, not off-book.

4) Do check where your “main residence” is legally deemed.
Don’t mix up the tax spot with the constituency flat. One slip and you’re walking into second-home surcharge territory.

5) Do run a Yuno compliance check before the Sunday headlines.
Is all press good press? Before someone runs “Minister lets un-licensed flat” or “Deputy PM avoids higher stamp duty” — log in, check your scheme, and sleep better. It’ll take less time than the hours you will spend with your PR agency crafting an apologetic comment.

❌ Top 5 Don’ts

1) Don’t assume your former home is automatically exempt.
If it is rented or trusted out, it may fall under a licensing regime or higher tax bracket. Jumping to any assumptions will not only put you at risk of a fine, but will cost you a carefully crafted reputation.

2) Don’t treat licensing as optional if you’re letting.
In areas with selective or additional licensing it can be a little more confusing, even for MPs, failing to licence may result in a criminal offence, unlimited fines or rent repayment orders.

3) Don’t classify your seaside pad as a “primary residence” unless you actually live there.
Rayner’s tax row centred on her seaside flat in Hove and trust arrangements for her son — the higher stamp duty for an additional dwelling applied.

4) Don’t rely on a clever trust to make you invisible.
The tax office sees through clever trusts faster than an MP raises an expense claim.

5) Don’t confuse policy enthusiasm with compliance.
It’s easy to praise selective licensing from the Commons — trickier to navigate it as a landlord. A missing licence might be an administrative slip, but when you’ve championed the rules yourself, it tends to look more like selective memory.

At Yuno, we believe that compliance isn’t just for landlords — it’s for lawmakers too. If you’re an MP or Peer and a landlord (there are 85 landlords serving in the House of Commons), whether you have one property or dozens, the difference between a smooth morning and a front-page scandal might be one missed licence or one mis-interpreted tax rule. Don’t let someone else write (or spray paint) your legacy — make sure your property affairs are as tight as your expenses.

Any Honourable Members and Peers with property portfolios wanting free access to Yuno compliance monitoring, email keepmeoutoftheheadlines@goyuno.com from a parliamentary address, or write to us on parliamentary notepaper.

Yuno — making sure your property portfolio doesn’t write your press release for you.