Search: MPs mortgage claims
MPs could be banned from claiming for their mortgages on expenses under proposed reforms to be unveiled next next week, it has been reported.
According to the report Sir Christopher Kelly, the chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, will recommend MPs should in future have to rent if they require a second home.
According to the report, Sir Christopher will also recommend a reduction in the number of MPs who are eligible to claim the second homes allowance.
Currently, only central London MPs are excluded from claiming for a second home, but under the proposals any MP with a constituency in "reasonable commuting distance" of Westminster will have to meet their own accommodation costs.
As has previously been reported, he was also said to be recommending a ban on MPs employing members of their families paid for out of public funds.
The BBC said he was advising that his reforms should be phased in over a five-year period in order to enable sitting MPs to adjust to the new arrangements. A spokeswoman for the committee would not comment.
Former chair of the committee on standards in public life Sir Alistair Graham told BBC News that he understood the report proposed a "sensible transitional arrangement" so that MPs could get their affairs in order.
Advertisement starts
Advertisement ends
Addressing the employment of family members, he said: "I always thought it was difficult to justify employment of any family member by a member of parliament with the use of public funds. At least there should be a competitive process for any person appointed using public funds and this clearly doesn't happen at the moment."
Meanwhile, the Daily Telegraph reported that MPs who "flipped" their second homes will escape punishment in the expenses review. A request by Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg for a more detailed audit of their claims was refused.
Some politicians changed the property which was designated as their second home, either to claim more expenses for things such as refurbishment, or to avoid paying capital gains tax on a sale. The newspaper said Speaker John Bercow, himself accused of deliberately avoiding capital gains tax, decided that a wider review would take too long.
