MP John Healey made £88,000 on flat deal

Mr Healey sold his subsidised flat in south London for £198,000 in May.

He is now renting a £1,250-a-month two-bedroomed flat in London at a total monthly cost to the taxpayer of about £1,400—around twice the amount previously paid out in mortgage payments.

Mr Healey bought a former council flat in Lambeth in 2000 for £110,000 and over five years spent thousands on renovations that were paid for by the taxpayer through his Commons expenses.

He claimed £691 per month for mortgage interest in 2008 and at various times claimed £1,431 to replace his front door, £7,612 for timber windows, £1,317 for a bed, sofa and shelving units, £95 for a swivel chair from Ikea and £25.98 for four pillows.

The Minister, whose job includes dealing with repossessions rates and a shortage of affordable homes, also made regular claims for food, utilities, phone and cleaning, plus £129 and £299 for TVs, during that time.

Mr Healey, who sold the flat after it had been on the market since July 2008, was among more than 80 MPs who switched their designated second homes during 2008 and 2009.

Mr Healey said:“We bought our one-bedroomed flat in London in 2000, with capital we had both earned over a number of years, including from the time before I became an MP.

“After buying the flat, the mortgage interest and some of the running costs were covered by the Parliamentary second home allowance, details of which I have published on my website since April 2008—over a year before the MPs’ expenses scandal broke.

“Over the years my wife and I have ourselves covered other costs in buying and maintaining the flat.

“Our first and family home has remained the one in the constituency.

"I have paid full capital gains tax on the sale of the flat because it was my second home."