Lady Warsi admits not declaring rental income

Lady Warsi, the Conservative party co-chairman, has admitted not fully declaring income she received from the rental of a flat she owns in north-west London. The Cabinet Office minister failed to declare the income on the property in Wembley in the register of interests for members of the House of Lords. The Tory peer bought the property in 2007 but moved closer to parliament when she became a minister in 2010, after which she began letting the flat. She said she took "full responsibility" for the omission, which she put down to an "oversight". Warsi had reported the letting of her flat in the register of ministers' interests and it had also been declared to the Cabinet Office along with HM Revenue and Customs. But she failed to include it on the register of lords' interests when the rent received exceeded the £500 threshold at which peers are required to declare sources of income. "Due to an oversight, for which I take full responsibility, the flat was not included on the register of lords' interests when its value and the rent received came to exceed the thresholds for disclosure," she said. "When the discrepancy became apparent this week, I immediately informed the registrar of lords' interests of its omission." The baroness said she contracted to buy the flat in September 2007, but it was not due to be ready until the following year. In the interim she stayed at hotels and an Acton property occupied by Tory adviser Naweed Khan.