Details of MPs renting from MPs since 1 September 2012

IPSA holds the information that you request.

Background: FOI Request on Landlord/agent names

You will be aware that prior to receiving your FOI request, we were in receipt of an FOI request (Reference FOI2012-A067a) relating to details of all Members of Parliament who claim for rental accommodation under the MPs’ Scheme for Business Costs and Expenses and their landlord names, as of 22 October 2012.

In our response to the request, we considered whether any of the relevant exemptions in the FOIA applied.  In order to do so, we contacted each MP to confirm whether either of the following applied:

1. The release of the information would immediately, or clearly lead to, the identification of the full postcode and address of an MPs’ rental accommodation;

2. The MP had specific security concerns – evidenced by a report from the police or other security agencies – that required IPSA to take additional steps to protect the identification of the address.

In addition, we contacted all landlords and agents to give them the opportunity to make representations, in order for us to consider whether any relevant exemptions applied for those individuals or organisations.

We received representations from a number of MPs, landlords and agents and considered those representations on a case by case basis.

We considered whether the disclosure of the requested information would breach the First Data Protection Principle of the DPA.  The First Data Protection Principle provides that:

Personal data shall be processed fairly and lawfully and, in particular, shall not be processed unless—

(a) at least one of the conditions in Schedule 2 is met, and

(b) in the case of sensitive personal data, at least one of the conditions in Schedule 3 is also met.

Where an MP, landlord or agent demonstrated the following, we withheld the landlord/agent name under Section 40(2) on the basis that such disclosure would be "unfair processing":

1. the release of the landlord/agent name identifies or might clearly lead to the identification of the address and they have provided a rationale for this; and

2. the individual has actively taken steps to avoid their address being in the public domain.

We withheld the landlord/agent name for the same reason where an MP expressed concerns about security and provided supporting evidence of that concern.

Our response may be viewed via this link to the Freedom of Information section of our website.

Our response to your request

We have checked our records and can confirm that the following MPs were renting accommodation for which another MP was their landlord as of 1 September 2012:

MP Name

• Iain McKenzie*

• Jessica Morden

• Gary Streeter*

• Pete Wishart

• Kevin Barron*

*No longer renting accommodation for which an MP is their landlord

For further information, in our response to FOI request on landlords (FOI2012-A067a), the landlord names for Gary Streeter and Pete Wishart were withheld, in line with the criteria set out.  Landlord names for Iain McKenzie and Jessica Morden were released under the request.  The rental arrangements for Kevin Barron MP changed prior to 22 October 2012 and, therefore, the details released were for the current landlord, who is not a Member of Parliament.  We understand that the details of Mr Barron’s previous landlord are already in the public domain.

Where any of the MPs listed in the table above no longer claim under the Scheme for rental accommodation for which an MP is their landlord, this is marked with an asterisk.