Osborne dragged into ‘flipping’ allegations
By Ian Dunt
George Osborne has been dragged into new expenses allegations after he was accused of ‘flipping’ his second home after taking out a mortgage.
The Times report will cause consternation in Tory HQ, after Conservative leader David Cameron took a tough stance on the issue.
The shadow chancellor is understood to have bought a Cheshire home nearby his constituency ten months before winning the seat in 2001.
He funded the purchase through increased borrowing on his London home, which he had lived in with his wife since 1998.
But once the election was secured, Mr Osborne is alleged to have made the London home his ‘second home’ and claimed mortgage interest payments on his expenses.
Two years later, he made the Cheshire farmhouse his second home and has since claimed £100,000 in public money to cover interest payments on the mortgage he then took out on it.
He was then able to reduce the loan on his London home and sell it for £1.45 million.
Mr Osborne stressed there was no impropriety or suggestion of wrongdoing on in the claim, and that he had not made any personal gain from the flip. But that defence may not be enough given that his party leader is on the record saying staying within the rules is not enough.
The Tory leader has since banned the practise of flipping and the avoidance of capital gains.
“This is entirely reasonable as all the costs are associated with his need to have a second home in Cheshire, and his arrangements have always sought to minimise the interest costs to the taxpayer,” a spokesman said.
