Chris "underpants" Bryant changed second home twice to claim £20,000

Chris "underpants" Bryant flipped his home twice....Chris Bryant, the MP for Rhondda, has split more than £92,000 of expenses between three properties in Wales and London in the past five years.

In 2004, he attempted to claim £58,000 to overhaul his second home in Porth, Wales, after allegedly complaining that most properties in his constituency were "terrace or mine owners' houses"

A few months earlier, a photograph of Mr Bryant in his underpants(inset), which he had posted to a gay dating website, had been published in newspapers.

Mr Bryant, a former Church of England clergyman, wanted the money for a new bathroom and kitchen and to demolish his conservatory. He had bought the detached house for £97,500 less than a year earlier. He submitted a claim to the Commons fees office for £58,493.26 – almost three times the annual maximum. He noted that the claim exceeded his allowance.

His alleged justification was disclosed in correspondence between Commons officials. In an email, an official wrote: "He had problems finding a suitable property because in the Rhondda there is a choice mainly of terraced property or mine owners' houses." When approached by the Telegraph yesterday, Mr Bryant said: "I have never said or thought anything of the sort". In all, he successfully claimed more than £13,000 for renovations, repairs and appliances in 2004. Along with other bills, his annual claim was £20,902.

In April 2005, he flipped his expenses to his flat in west London, which he bought for £400,000 in April 2002. He claimed £630 a month for mortgage interest, along with other bills. After claiming more than £3,600 over three months, he sold the flat in July 2005 for £477,000.

Mr Bryant used his profits to buy a more expensive flat in west London, which was valued at £670,000. He immediately flipped his second home expenses there.
He claimed almost £6,400 in stamp duty, legal fees and mortgage fees incurred in the purchase. He then began claiming interest of £1,000 a month on the mortgage. He also claimed a further £6,000 a year for the flat's service charge and ground rent.

In all, he has claimed a total of £92,415 in second home expenses since 2004.

With all that money he made off of the taxpayers, he no doubt bought several new pairs of underpants.

Technorati Tags: troughligate, expenses

.