Andy Burnham’s rental flat purchase part-funded by taxpayers

27th May 2026

Andy Burnham’s comments on housing are facing renewed scrutiny after it was revealed he bought a London flat that he rents out, with help from the parliamentary expenses system.

The Sun says the Greater Manchester Mayor bought the two-bedroom ex-council flat in Kennington in 2005 for £215,000 while serving as Labour MP for Leigh.

At the time, MPs were allowed to claim mortgage interest payments on second homes through the parliamentary expenses system.

Burnham decided to retain the flat after the 2009 MPs’ expenses scandal led to reforms banning mortgage interest claims on second homes.

He then rented it out privately while claiming around £17,000 a year in parliamentary expenses to rent another London flat closer to Westminster.

Shadow Health Secretary

The arrangement first attracted criticism in 2012 while Burnham was serving as Shadow Health Secretary and resurfaced again during his Labour leadership campaign in 2015.

In an interview with Voicescape’s Gary Haynes, which was reported in The Negotiator, Burnham argued that Britain’s housing crisis would continue unless homes stopped being treated “as a commodity to be bought and sold.”

He also called for tougher intervention in the housing market, lower rents, more social housing and the suspension of Right to Buy, which he says has contributed to the loss of social housing stock.

I don’t want to sell it, so have had to rent it out.”

Explaining his decision to keep the flat, Burnham said in 2012 that changes to parliamentary expenses rules meant he “could no longer afford” to live there himself.

“I don’t want to sell it, so have had to rent it out,” he stated at the time.

The property is now estimated to be worth around £480,000, which is more than double its original value.

One Comment

1. At times I think the largest party in Westminster is the Hypocrisy Party as there are so many members across all parties.