"Honourable Members": Old Dogs and New Tricks

The media yesterday reported that MPs have repaid almost £400,000 in profits judged to have been accrued on their taxpayer-funded homes.

According to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), the Westminster expenses watchdog, the highest payment was £81,446 by a leading Tory MP, one of 71 MPs who continued to claim towards mortgage interest payments until 2012.

A further Tory MP claims that IPSA is “bullying him” by taking legal action to get him to pay £54,000 it says he owes.

Under new regulations governing “Honourable Members” claiming of public money in the wake of widespread expenses fraud, MPs now have to repay a share of any capital gain on all property purchased using public money.

All MPs used to be able to claim expenses towards the cost of mortgage interest payments on their “second homes”.

But changes introduced in 2010 put an end to the much abused practice for all new MPs, who now prefer to rent properties or stay in temporary accommodation like hotels if they need a base in London.

However, MPs who had already bought properties under the old system were still allowed to claim mortgage interest payments until last August, on condition that they agreed to repay a share of any profit made over that period – regardless of whether they chose to sell or not.

As an aside, many MPs who previous “needed” a taxpayer subsidised home in London, have now decided that they have no need of such – in the absence of subsidies.

In order to ascertain the amounts owed, MPs properties were valued by a surveyor in 2010 and again in 2012. The amount “Honourable Members” had to repay depended on how much they had claimed, and how much their property’s value had risen since purchase.

In actual fact IPSA have negotiated with 71 MPs who, between them, claimed £926,159 of public money to cover mortgage interest over the 15-month period – 29 of them were told to repay a total of £484,828 – of which nearly £390,000 has been repaid so far.

The remaining 42 MPs have not had to repay anything, as their properties fell in value over the period.

This development follows on from a desperate attempt by MPs late last year to block publication of material which could show they are renting their taxpayer-funded homes to each other.

At the time IPSA were said to have been considering a Freedom of Information request to release the details – a move opposed by the Commons Speaker on the basis that it could pose what he allegedly described as a “security risk”.

IPSA’s concern was said to have arisen in the wake of claims that at least four MPs were sub-letting their second homes to other MPs; rents paid for out of the public-purse.

Asked whether David Cameron was concerned about reports of MPs renting their flats to one another, a Downing Street spokeswoman reportedly said: “As you know, the prime minister is committed to transparency, but this is a matter for IPSA.”

When it comes to “Honourable Members” who says you can’t teach old dogs new tricks?