Streeting Moves Into ‘£70m’ Taxpayer Mansion After Lammy Finally Leaves Carlton Gardens

News | By Matt, Editor

Wes Streeting has moved into 1 Carlton Gardens, the stucco mansion off The Mall that normally houses the Foreign Secretary, according to an exclusive from Guido Fawkes this morning. The Defence Secretary is not the Foreign Secretary. Guido says he moved in on 6 October.

The house is owned by the taxpayer. Guido puts its value today at about £60 million to £70 million.

EXC: Wes Streeting Takes Over £70 Million Government Mansion After Sacked Lammy Finally Leaves https://t.co/mmofEqUZMt pic.twitter.com/etrCubERH8

Have your sayTap to comment— Guido Fawkes (@GuidoFawkes) November 5, 2026

Key facts

• Guido Fawkes reported at 10.41am today that Wes Streeting moved into 1 Carlton Gardens on 6 October 2026. We have found no other outlet that has confirmed the move yet.
• The Cabinet Office told MPs on 5 October that David Lammy had use of the house until 12 September 2026, and that it had “not been allocated to another Minister” as of that date (written answer).
• The property was valued at £20 million in 2001, when Labour looked at selling it. Guido estimates it would be worth around £60 million to £70 million now. The Telegraph called it a “£25m” home last year.
• Labour’s Budget on 28 October raised tax on income from property and savings by two percentage points from April 2027. The Treasury says about 2.4 million landlords and 6 million savers will pay more (our report).

What Guido found

According to Guido, the mansion stood empty for about three weeks after Mr Lammy left on 12 September, and then Mr Streeting moved in on 6 October. The site says there had been reports he was living in a flat at Admiralty House, the one Angela Rayner used to have, and remarks that it “looks like he wanted something grander”.

That earlier flat was not a rumour. In August, after Andy Burnham’s reshuffle, a Westminster journalist set out who had been handed which official home. Mr Streeting, she reported, was taking over Ms Rayner’s old flat in Admiralty House.

Exc: Who has and hasn't got a grace-and-favour government residence in Andy Burnham's reshuffle fallout? 👀

– Louise Haigh turns one down – with allies saying she'll prioritise spare time outside Westminster working at "No 10 North" in Manchester
– Ed Miliband takes the coveted…

— Aubrey Allegretti (@breeallegretti) August 6, 2026

The same list noted that Louise Haigh turned an official residence down altogether. So at least one Cabinet minister managed without.

Guido’s timing fits the official record, just. When Conservative MPs Mike Wood and Ben Obese-Jecty asked about the house, Cabinet Office minister Mark Ferguson replied on 5 October that it had “not been allocated to another Minister”. Guido’s move-in date is the following day.

We have not seen any statement from Mr Streeting, the Ministry of Defence or the Cabinet Office about the move. If one comes, we will add it.

The house

One Carlton Gardens is a Regency house backing onto St James’s Park, a few hundred metres from Buckingham Palace. The Telegraph has described it as the grandest of the ministerial residences, over six storeys, with three bedrooms, two dining rooms and a ballroom. Part of it is used for official business, and part is a self-contained flat for a minister.

Foreign Secretaries have lived there since 1945, when Ernest Bevin complained about his “shabby flat” in Downing Street. The rule has bent before: the last Conservative government lent it to Michael Gove after his marriage broke down.

The value is a guess, and we would rather say so. Guido works from a £20 million figure in 2001 and London price growth since. The Telegraph’s £25 million was its own figure in 2025. Either way, it is a home most taxpayers paying for it will never see the inside of. To be fair to the minister, the Commons Library notes that ministers given an official residence cannot also claim accommodation expenses from IPSA, the MPs’ expenses watchdog.

How Lammy held on

Mr Lammy got the house as Foreign Secretary in July 2024. When Sir Keir Starmer moved him to Justice in September 2025, he kept it as Deputy Prime Minister, and a 2025 written answer to the Lords confirmed it was still allocated to him.

He then lost his job in Mr Burnham’s reshuffle this summer. The Times reported in August that he had been allowed to keep the house over the summer despite the sacking, and we covered it at the time. The Cabinet Office says his use ended on 12 September.

Where the tax rises land

All this is happening a week after a Budget that took more from millions of people with savings or a rental flat. Mr Streeting was quick to cheer it.

I’ve said since my first day as Defence Secretary that I trust this Chancellor to give us what we need to keep our country safe. Today demonstrates why.

We’re delivering the biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War. Today the Chancellor not only restated…

— Wes Streeting (@wesstreeting) October 28, 2026

The opposition saw a different Budget.

Is that it?

John Healey had a big job to do cleaning up Labour’s mess. This Budget fails to do it.

Britain is overspent, overborrowed and overtaxed. This Budget does not come close to meeting the moment.

My full response👇 pic.twitter.com/9WVU1WCLe9

— Kemi Badenoch (@KemiBadenoch) October 28, 2026

Labour just raised your taxes again.

This is where they're going. pic.twitter.com/R8h4Clbgf3

— Reform UK (@reformparty_uk) October 29, 2026

Mr Streeting runs a department that has been short-changed: we reported last week that Labour gave the MoD £2bn less than it promised. He has also told the country to get ready, food stocks and all, for a more dangerous world. And this week we reported that a government jet flew to Manchester to collect the Prime Minister.

Our view

Ministers need somewhere secure to sleep. Nobody serious argues the Defence Secretary should commute from a bedsit. But Mr Streeting already had a government flat in Admiralty House, if the August reports were right. On Guido’s account he has swapped it for the Foreign Secretary’s mansion, in a job that does not come with it.

Look at the order of events. Mr Lammy kept the house for a year after leaving the Foreign Office, and for weeks after leaving government. Then, rather than hand it back to the Foreign Office or rent it out, it seems to have gone to the next senior minister in line. Meanwhile the Chancellor has just told 6 million savers they will pay more.

If Labour thinks this is fine, it can say so in public. Who lives there, on what terms, and what the taxpayer pays for the upkeep should all be on the record. Reform should promise to publish it, and to stop treating the official residences as a perk to be passed round the Cabinet table.

Should ministers lose grace-and-favour mansions while ordinary households face higher taxes? Vote in our poll below.

Sources

• Guido Fawkes, 5 November 2026: EXC: Wes Streeting takes over £70 million government mansion after sacked Lammy finally leaves
• Cabinet Office written answer, 5 October 2026 (via Parallel Parliament): 1 Carlton Gardens
• Lords written answer HL10808, 28 October 2025: allocation of official residences
• The Telegraph, 18 September 2025: David Lammy keeps £25m grace-and-favour home despite reshuffle
• The Times, August 2026: David Lammy keeps grace-and-favour home over summer despite sacking
• House of Commons Library, SN03367: ministerial residences
• Posts on X by Guido Fawkes, Bree Allegretti, Wes Streeting, Kemi Badenoch and Reform UK (embedded above)
• Main image: Wes Streeting, David Woolfall / UK Parliament, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0; Carlton Gardens, Stephen Richards, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 (both cropped)