THE Commons Speaker, Michael Martin, rented out his London flat while claiming expenses on his constituency home and living in a grace-and-favour apartment in the Palace of Westminster, it emerged this weekend.

The Glasgow MP, who earns £141,866 a year as a member of parliament and Speaker, moved into the grace-and-favour home eight years ago. He then rented out his London flat for 14 months, generating an estimated £13,000, which he used to help meet the mortgage payments on the property, and other bills.

The £250,000 Pimlico flat, which has one bedroom and is close to parliament, was let from November 2002 to January 2004.

Shortly before this, Martin explained the move on his register of interests. “My wife and I own a small flat in London which we may at some point let for rent,” he said. “Should we decide to do so, we propose to donate any surplus rent, after meeting the mortgage payments and other standard outgoings, to a charity for the homeless.”

While renting out the flat, Martin declared Speaker’s House - his grace-and-favour apartment - as his main residence, enabling him to claim a second-home allowance for his constituency home in a Glasgow suburb. In 2002-3 he claimed £15,753 for the Scottish property, while in 2003-4 he claimed £9,992. The house, which cost him £173,000 in 1998, is now worth about £400,000.

Even though Martin owns the house outright, he has continued to make annual claims of up to £17,166. Under the allowance, he is entitled to claim for utilities, council tax, furniture, security, maintenance and decoration, as well as mortgage interest where applicable.

Speaker’s House has had a £725,000 refurbishment since Martin and his wife Mary moved in. A further £1m has been spent on Speaker’s Green, although a spokeswoman said most of this was on security measures. Martin has also held on to an unusually generous pension scheme, which entitles him to half his salary as pension until his death. Similar schemes which were previously available to the prime minister and lord chancellor have been scrapped.

Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrat MP, said: “The general rule must be that an MP is at most entitled to one extra home courtesy of the taxpayer. The prime minister and those living in grace-and-favour homes should not have a second-home allowance.”

A spokeswoman for Martin said he had made substantial donations to charity, but refused to disclose how much. She said his claims were within the rules.

It also emerged this weekend that MPs have been given the freedom to generate rental income from their taxpayer-subsidised homes.

A new guide to parliamentary perks and pay, which came into force at the beginning of April, has scrapped advice to MPs not to sublet the properties for which they are claiming expenses. Instead, they are now expected to decide for themselves whether they are avoiding “improper personal financial benefit”. The claims will be checked internally and by the National Audit Office.

Between May 2001 and September 2005, Douglas Alexander, the international development secretary, sublet part of his Scottish constituency home while claiming £73,000 in second-home allowances. This weekend he stated that he reduced his mortgage interest expense claims in line with his rental income.

His expenses reveal that in 2004-5 he claimed the maximum possible. In 2002-3 he claimed just £735 short of the maximum and £109 short of the maximum in 2003-4. A spokesman for Alexander said his claims were within the rules.

Additional reporting by Helen Brooks and Georgia Warren

Third estate

THE government adviser who told Gordon Brown to curb the growth of second homes in picturesque villages has funded a property portfolio of three homes with the help of more than £140,000 of taxpayers’ money.

Matthew Taylor, the Liberal Democrat MP for Truro and St Austell, headed a government review that concluded councils should have the power to stop villages becoming enclaves for wealthy commuters.

His main residence is a farm near St Austell. He also owns a flat in Lambeth, south London, for which he claimed his second-home allowance until 2002. In July that year, he bought a £436,000 house in Lambeth and switched his allowance to this property. Official records are available only from 2001, since when he has claimed £143,195.

Taylor explained that he decided to keep his original flat and rent it out to pay off its mortgage. He said he had bought a bigger home in the area because he and his wife were planning a family.

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