{"id":397737,"date":"2026-01-30T00:01:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T00:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/397737\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T00:01:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T00:01:07","slug":"reform-uk-council-chair-resigns-after-illegally-renting-out-unsafe-properties-warwickshire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/397737\/","title":{"rendered":"Reform UK council chair resigns after \u2018illegally renting out unsafe properties\u2019 | Warwickshire"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Reform UK<\/a> council chair has resigned after it was found he was illegally running two unsafe rental properties, according to a neighbouring local authority.<\/p>\n

Edward Harris, the chair of Warwickshire county council, owned two unlicensed houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) in Staffordshire<\/a> that had \u201cmultiple serious safety failures\u201d, according to Labour-led Tamworth borough council.<\/p>\n

In a statement on Thursday announcing his resignation as chair and as a member of Reform UK, Harris said he took \u201cfull accountability\u201d for the condition of the homes and \u201cmade public my contrition for the situation and willingness to correct everything under my responsibilities as owner of those two properties\u201d.<\/p>\n

Other Reform politicians have voiced concerns about HMO properties. Photograph: Martin Godwin\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

\u201cA recent news story has been an unfair distraction of the great work of our council. While this matter is looked into, I feel it is my noble duty not to allow my chains of office to be put through a process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tamworth council described Harris as a \u201crogue landlord\u201d and said he \u2013 as well as the management agent Touchstone \u2013 had ignored repeated warnings about the \u201cdangerous conditions\u201d at the properties.<\/p>\n

The council found the properties had no heating or access to hot water, no working fire alarms, inadequate cooking facilities and unsafe access to outdoor areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe six-bedroom properties, which housed multiple tenants, failed to meet even the most basic of living standards and legal requirements,\u201d Tamworth said.<\/p>\n

Harris says he takes \u2018full responsibility\u2019 for the condition of the homes. Photograph: Martin Godwin\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

The news will be embarrassing for Reform UK as its candidate in the Gorton and Denton byelection in Greater Manchester, Matt Goodwin, declared tackling HMOs would be one of his priorities. Lee Anderson MP, the party\u2019s chief whip, has previously raised concerns to the government about the \u201csharp increase in the number of HMOs, many of which are poorly managed\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Reform leader of the council, George Finch, acknowledged the resignation and thanked Harris for his service as chair. \u201cIt would be inappropriate to comment on the details while the proper process is ongoing, and I would urge others not to speculate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

One resident said the tenants went two years without hot water. Photograph: Martin Godwin\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

A 75-year-old, who did not want to be named, who lives on the same street as Harris\u2019s HMOs, said both properties had \u201cgradually fell into disrepair\u201d and Harris \u201cjust simply refused to do anything about them\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we hadn\u2019t realised was quite what the state of the houses inside was and the pitiful state that residents were [in],\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Another resident, 73, said she had spoken to someone living at the one of the properties who said that they had not had hot water for two years. \u201cI said: \u2018Well, how do you manage?\u2019 He said: \u2018We boil kettles and there\u2019s an electric shower.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

She described her surprise to discover the landlord was a Reform party chair at Warwickshire<\/a> council. \u201cSomebody like that is of high standing,\u201d she said. \u201cWe asked him to sort out the problem, he totally ignored us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The council issued emergency prohibition notices on the properties. Photograph: Martin Godwin\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

Ben Clarke at Tamworth council said the state of the properties left the local authority with \u201cno choice but to act\u201d and issue two emergency prohibition notices.<\/p>\n

The residents had been offered support and advice, the council said, adding that it was considering further enforcement action in relation to the properties owned by Harris.<\/p>\n

Touchstone has been contacted for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Reform UK council chair has resigned after it was found he was illegally running two unsafe rental…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":397738,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-397737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397737\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/397738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}