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| - By: Vanita Ganesh
October 9 2024
The house in the image is a country retreat, which Reeves is allowed to use, and guidelines do not allow MPs to claim expenses for such residences.
What is the claim?
Social media users have shared an image of a luxury mansion, claiming it belongs to U.K. Labour Party Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
Text overlaid on the image says, "This is the house Rachel Reeves lives in, btw she claims expenses on heating it… (sic)." A A Facebook post shared the image with the caption: "That's a great socialists house (sic)." Archives of similar posts can be viewed here, here, here, here, and here.
Screenshots of the social media posts. (Source: Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)
The claim comes after criticism directed at Reeves and the Labour-led government over winter fuel payment cuts.
However, we found that this claim is false. Chancellor Reeves, whose residential accommodation is at 11 Downing Street, cannot claim heating expenses.
What we found
A reverse image search led us to a Getty Images photograph (archived here) which identifies the building as Dorneywood, a country retreat in Buckinghamshire, England.
As Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves was given use of the house. Dorneywood's official website states that it is "available for the use of a senior member of the government (in recent times the Chancellor of the Exchequer) as a weekend retreat" and lists Reeves as its current resident.
Dorneywood is designated as a "ministerial residence," and the ministerial code forbids ministers or MPs who live in the ministerial residence or official residence from claiming accommodation expenses.
The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) in the U.K. regulates the accommodation and business expenses of members of the U.K. parliament. Under the IPSA, MPs can claim utility bills for the property registered with the IPSA and for the hotels they stay at for official visits. Dorneywood is not listed with the IPSA.
An IPSA spokesperson told us that Reeves has residential accommodation provided at 11 Downing Street.
"In general, MPs can claim for energy costs for their constituency office, as well as their residential accommodation (if they represent a non-London constituency). They cannot claim for utility bills on their private homes," the IPSA spokesperson said.
"Whilst there is no specific upper limit on energy claims for constituency offices and residential accommodation, MPs do have an overall budget cap they must stick to for office costs (£36,550 in London and £33,020 elsewhere) and accommodation (£29,290 in London and £19,940 elsewhere). Further to this, if MPs representing a non-London constituency are claiming for "associated costs," including basic utilities, on a residential property they own, the budget is smaller (£6,630).
MPs may only claim for rent and/or associated costs relating to one property – either in the London Area or in the MP's constituency – unless IPSA agrees there are exceptional circumstances that justify claims in both," IPSA told us.
IPSA records show that for 2024-2025, Reeves claimed £4,500 as business costs for her Leeds West and Pudsey constituency office and not Dorneywood. Of this, £100 was for utilities.
The verdict
Our research confirms that Dorneywood is a ministerial residence and doesn't fall under IPSA guidelines. MPs cannot claim utility or accommodation expenses. Chancellor Rachel Reeves has access to Dorneywood, but she cannot claim accommodation or utility expenses.
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