Over 250 MPs are claiming more in expenses to pay rent on their second homes than the maximum a normal person living in Westminster is allowed to claim in housing benefit.
According to campaign group Generation Rent, over £5 million in taxpayers’ cash went on second homes for 335 MPs with constituencies outside of London in 2013.
Half claimed more than £1,675 a month in rent, whilst the biggest single claim was £2,467 a month. The average monthly rent for the typical, non-MP household in the capital is £1,300.
With the average monthly sum lavished by MPs on second homes in London much higher than the amount available to spend by the average citizen, Generation Rent has pointed out that last month a majority of politicians rejected measures to ban letting agent fees.
Generation Rent, which campaigns for the rights of tenants in the private rented sector, analysised MPs’ expenses data for 2013, published by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA).