MPs' mortgage payments and equity

Request

I would like some information under the FOIA.

When an MP buys a house as part of his MPs 1st or 2nd house arrangements, I assume the mortgage is paid by the state.

If the house or flat costs say £80000 and the payments are made until the building is sold for whatever reason, it may and probably has risen in value, who receives the difference?

I remember a tale a few years ago, I heard it on 5live an MP bought a house in his constituency for £30000, spent a further £30000 in renovation work, and 15 years later it went on the market for just over £300000, it was rumoured the MP got the difference.

Response

IPSA holds some of the information that you request.

MPs are no longer able to claim the mortgage interest on their second homes. This practice was abolished after IPSA was set up in 2010. To allow for a transitional period, MPs who were re-elected in 2010 were allowed to continue claiming the cost of mortgage interest payments for a defined period, in order to give them time to make alternative arrangements. Where the value of the property rose during this period, the MP paid us a sum to cover the taxpayer’s share of that increase.

Information on these arrangements, which expired in August 2012, can be found on our publication website. The data includes information on the repayment of any capital gain, as well as the names of Members who took part in the arrangements, the amount claimed, the capital gain calculated as due to be repaid to IPSA and the name of the surveyors. 

This concludes our response to your request.

Ref:
CAS-138168
Disclosure:
30 April 2019
Categories:
MPs' ACCOMMODATIONMORTGAGE INTEREST
Exemptions Applied: