Green Party co-deputy leader Mothin Ali owns two buy-to-let properties in Leeds, despite his party’s policy calling for the effective abolition of private landlordism.
Ali, a Leeds City Council member for Gipton and Harehills, acquired the properties in the ward he represents. The Sunday Times reported that both are believed to be occupied by tenants and financed with buy-to-let mortgages.
One property, a three-bedroom former council house, was bought for £165,000 in June 2022. The second was purchased for £157,000 in March 2025.
The properties were acquired through MA Holdings, a private limited company incorporated in December 2021, in which Ali is the sole director. Companies House records show that the company had £22,341 in the bank in 2024.
A Green Party spokesman said Ali had acted “solely in the interests of vulnerable close family members for whom he has caring responsibilities”. The spokesman added that personal information had been provided to the newspaper in confidence, but would not be made public at Ali’s request in order to protect his family.
Ali has said he had put personal funds into the company and denied that its cash holdings represented only profit from letting the first property. He has not disclosed how much rent is charged for either home.
Green Party policy on private landlords
Green Party members approved an “Abolish Landlords” motion at the party’s annual conference last year. The policy says private landlords add “no positive value” to the economy or society and describes the private rented sector as a means of transferring wealth from working people to landlords.
Its proposals include rent controls, ending buy-to-let mortgages, increasing taxes on landlords and giving tenants and councils greater rights to buy properties when landlords sell.
Ali has served as co-deputy leader of the Green Party of England and Wales alongside Rachel Millward since September 2025, working under leader Zack Polanski. He was elected as the first Green councillor for Gipton and Harehills in May 2024.
