Editor's note: This brief was summarised by The Property AI Newsroom from a report by The Negotiator. Read the original article for full details.

Andy Burnham’s London Rental Flat Part-Funded by Parliamentary Expenses

Andy Burnham, Greater Manchester Mayor and former Labour MP for Leigh, purchased a two-bedroom ex-council flat in Kennington, London, in 2005 for £215,000. The purchase was part-funded through the parliamentary expenses system, which at the time allowed MPs to claim mortgage interest payments on second homes.

Following the 2009 MPs’ expenses scandal, reforms were introduced that banned mortgage interest claims on second homes. Burnham retained ownership of the flat and began renting it out privately. During this period, he claimed around £17,000 a year in parliamentary expenses to rent another London flat closer to Westminster.

The arrangement first attracted criticism in 2012 while Burnham was serving as Shadow Health Secretary, and it resurfaced during his Labour leadership campaign in 2015. In 2012, Burnham explained that changes to parliamentary expenses rules meant he could no longer afford to live in the Kennington flat himself, stating, “I don’t want to sell it, so have had to rent it out.”

The Negotiator reports that the property is now estimated to be worth around £480,000, more than double its original purchase price. Burnham’s comments on housing, including calls for tougher intervention in the housing market, lower rents, more social housing, and the suspension of Right to Buy, have faced renewed scrutiny in light of this arrangement.

This case highlights ongoing debates around MPs’ use of property, rental practices, and the impact of parliamentary expenses on the UK rental market—issues of relevance to letting agents and inventory clerks monitoring regulatory and market developments.