MPs accused of renting out London homes with taxpayer cash
Fourteen MPs have been accused of renting out homes using a parliamentary expenses scheme loophole while letting out properties they own in London.
It gives the ministers a comfortable side income of at least £10,000 a year, while they use taxpayers’ money to rent other property in the city, The Times reported.
Former attorney general sir Geoffrey Cox, who has been facing backlash over the £1m he earns a year as a lawyer, is among the ministers taking advantage of the loophole.
Cox has been letting his Battersea home since 2017, renting another London flat for £1,900.
Others include former cabinet ministers John Whittingdale, Liam Fox, former minister Robert Goodwill and Tory backbenchers including Philip Davies.
Many of the MPs who benefit from the system claim that the expenses watchdog Ipsa has encouraged the process.
However, Ipsa reportedly admitted that while there is a “perception of personal gain”, the regulator cannot make ministers live in their own homes.
The loophole was formed in 2010 when Ipsa banned MPs from claiming mortgage interest payments on the expenses scheme.