A sensible thing to do would be to say: "OK: expenses will fund the purchase of a second home. However, HMG will have a charge on the property. When it is sold, the sum which has been taken in expenses must be repaid subject to interest calculated at X% above base for the period during which it was not 'earning' for HMG."
Renting properties will be more expensive than paying monthly mortgage instalments, but that doesn't mean the money has to be treated by the Exchequer as gone.
It also doesn't deal with things like the cost of new kitchens, or wood flooring(!), etc. But maybe MPs would have been less likely to pig out on the trough if they knew they would have to repay a large amount.
Today I read that one MP says he was advised to 'claim for the whole mortgage even though most of it had been paid off'. That could mean a number of things, and I cannot be certain which.
But if that is intended to excuse his behaviour, then it does not. He's capable of applying his own judgment to this and saying: "Well, if I were to do that where would the extra money come from?", before deciding if it was OK to follow that advice.
Bookmarks