One of the Green Party’s deputy leaders has been reported to own two buy-to-let properties in Leeds, despite the party adopting policies aimed at the “effective abolition of private landlordism”.

Mothin Ali, a Leeds councillor who was elected as one of the party’s two deputy leaders, owns the properties through his private limited company, MA Holdings Limited.

The first property, a three-bedroom former council house in Gipton, was bought for £165,000 in June 2022. A second property in the same area was purchased for £157,000 in March 2025. Both properties have buy-to-let mortgages and have been reported as tenanted.

MA Holdings was incorporated in December 2021, with Mr Ali listed as its sole director. Company accounts showed MA Holdings had £22,341 in the bank in 2024, an increase of £15,409 from 2023. However, a Green Party source said the company’s most recent balance sheet showed it was in deficit and had not made an overall profit.

Green Party policy on private landlords

At its annual conference, the Green Party passed a motion to “seek the effective abolition of private landlordism”.

The policy would involve increasing council housing and placing greater restrictions on the private rented sector. The articles also report proposals for increased regulation and taxation of private rentals, rent controls and the outlawing of buy-to-let mortgages.

Green Party leader Zack Polanski has also criticised the Right to Buy scheme and the subsequent ownership of former council homes by private landlords, property developers and investment firms “who treat those homes, and their tenants, as cash cows”.

He added: “One in six private renters is now renting a former council home, often at extortionate rates – and often partly paid for by the government in the form of housing benefit.”

Mr Polanski has also called for rent controls limiting how much landlords could increase rents both during and between tenancies, describing the policy as a way to “stop the chokehold of rip-off rents”.

Green Party responds

The Green Party said Mr Ali’s ownership of the properties related to his responsibilities towards close family members.

A spokesman said: “We have provided deeply personal information to The Sunday Times in confidence, which shows that councillor Ali has acted solely in the interests of vulnerable close family members for whom he has caring responsibilities.

“At councillor Ali’s request, we are not going to make this information public to protect his family.”