This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk_politics/8117341.stm
The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Council warns MP couple over home | Council warns MP couple over home |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| Married Labour MPs Ann and Alan Keen have been given a month to stop their local council repossessing their home 10 miles from the House of Commons. | Married Labour MPs Ann and Alan Keen have been given a month to stop their local council repossessing their home 10 miles from the House of Commons. |
| The pair's expenses have been in the spotlight after they claimed £137,679 for a second home near Parliament. | The pair's expenses have been in the spotlight after they claimed £137,679 for a second home near Parliament. |
| In a letter seen by the BBC, Hounslow Council tells the couple "urgent action" is needed to explain why their main home in Brentford is unoccupied. | In a letter seen by the BBC, Hounslow Council tells the couple "urgent action" is needed to explain why their main home in Brentford is unoccupied. |
| The Keens have not responded to BBC requests for a comment. | The Keens have not responded to BBC requests for a comment. |
| In addition, the Keens are not thought to have responded to the council's letter, sent last week. | In addition, the Keens are not thought to have responded to the council's letter, sent last week. |
| A source at the council - which is run by the Conservatives - told the BBC that the Brentford property had remained empty for seven months. | A source at the council - which is run by the Conservatives - told the BBC that the Brentford property had remained empty for seven months. |
| Andrew Dakers, the Liberal Democrat councillor for the area, who is also its prospective Parliamentary candidate, has told the BBC that the windows at the back of the Keens main home were boarded up and that there was paint splashed on the inside of the upstairs windows. | |
| 'Not occupied' | |
| If the council does not get a satisfactory response from the Keens, it then has the power to issue an Empty Dwelling Management Order which would allow the council to take possession of the property and bring it back into use. | |
| Such orders became law five years ago in order to give local councils the power to take possession of empty properties and bring them back into use. | |
| The couple's designated second home is a flat in Waterloo, two stops on the Jubilee underground line from Westminster. | |
| Alan Keen is MP for Feltham and Heston while Ann Keen is MP for neighbouring Brentford and Isleworth. | |
| According to the Daily Telegraph, the couple bought the central London flat in 2002 and have, between them, claimed more than £30,000 towards it in each of the past four years. | |
| The couple told the newspaper that under the second home allowance rules, married MPs were entitled to separately claim for a property that they share and live in together. |