1/5 UK MPs Make £10k Per Year from Renting

A report has found that more than 100 MPs make significant income from renting out properties that they own. 

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At least 17 percent of MPs own properties that generate a “significant” rental income of more than £10,000, according to new research from an anti-corruption organisation.

Transparency International UK has published an analysis of parliamentarians’ parliamentary interests.

Findings showed that:

  • 113 (17 percent of) MPs hold 261 properties between them
  • These properties generate a ‘significant income’, defined by parliamentary rules as £10,000 or more annually

Researchers calculated the collective rental income would be £2.6m per year, using “conservative estimates”.

They said that the actual figure could be much higher. 

Meanwhile, almost 40 percent of parliamentarians (212 MPs and 321 Lords) were found to have a registered interest in property, with 1325 property interests registered in the UK, including at least 820 physical residential and commercial assets. 

Transparency International UK defines property interest as:

A direct or indirect interest in property, which could include owning land assets, or working for or owning a property-related company.

The research also found that:

  • a total of 43 MPs (7 percent) have some form of interest in property companies or business, such as shareholdings or directorships
  • 19 of these MPs are directly employed by a property-related business
  • MPs were three times more likely to own more than one residential property than the public
  • 27 percent of MPs owned more than one home compared with 9 percent of the general population.

Daniel Bruce, chief executive of Transparency International UK, said this research was further evidence of the “disproportionate presence of property interests” in our political system.

He said: “With parliamentarians far more likely to own second homes than the general population, it’s reasonable to question how representative their experience is of the housing crisis and whether this has some bearing on the political appetite for change.”

MPs are set to scrutinise the Renters’ Reform Bill, which looks to improve the rights of private tenants.

Mr Bruce also called for greater transparency over parliamentarians’ financial affairs.

He said the way information was currently published was “almost stuck in the Victorian era”.

Despite calls from the Commons Standards Committee and others to make these records more digitally accessible, there has been little progress to date,” he said.

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