Overview
- The Guardian published letters showing Powell asked then–housing secretary Angela Rayner on 10 December 2024 to reconsider what she called “disproportionate” legal action and to engage with Urban Splash outside lengthy litigation.
- Powell attached a 5 December note from Urban Splash founder Tom Bloxham referencing a Rose Network event, as the developer faced a government push to recover roughly £49m spent on post-Grenfell safety works.
- The housing ministry says its legal action continues and offered no indication of ministerial intervention in the company’s favor after Powell’s correspondence.
- Powell’s office says she met Urban Splash in November 2024 as part of constituency casework, wrote transparently, supports developers paying their fair share, paid market rent for her office in a company-owned building, and was unaware of Bloxham’s 2020 Labour donation.
- She sent follow-up letters in April and August 2025 seeking meetings and warning of insolvency risk, and the Manchester Evening News reported Rayner had not replied before leaving government in September, while right-leaning outlets amplified the story’s political angles.