Tony and Cherie Blair have amassed a substantial property portfolio, including a £4 million London mansion and a £5 million country estate, partly funded by taxpayer-subsidised mortgage interest payments on their constituency home, Myrobella House in County Durham. The revelations come from newly released parliamentary expenses records.
Myrobella, purchased in 1983 for an undisclosed sum, has increased tenfold in value and served as collateral for further property acquisitions. The Blairs claimed up to £200,000 in mortgage interest expenses over 20 years, tax-free, under the Additional Costs Allowance for MPs.
Critics question the legitimacy of claims based on a mortgage exceeding the property's purchase price. The system, governed by the Green Book, is self-regulatory and has been condemned as inadequately scrutinised, with some MPs using second home allowances as 'cash machines'.
As Blair is no longer an MP and the property market declines, taxpayers will not recover the subsidy when Myrobella is sold. Other Blair expenses were reportedly shredded by a Westminster official, allegedly by mistake.
