Difference between revisions of "Flipping (United Kingdom)"

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The practice of flipping came to prominence with the so-called ‘expenses scandal’ that broke in 2009. The Daily Telegraph first brought the expenses scandal into the public eye and in doing so, focussed heavily on flipping as one of the most financially significant and unethical abuses of the parliamentary expenses system (Daily Telegraph 2009)<ref>The Daily Telepgraph. 2009. ‘MPs’ Expenses: Six Figure Profits from Sale of Taxpayer-Subsidised Homes’. December 13. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/6797620/MPs-expenses-six-figure-profits-from-sale-of-taxpayer-subsidised-homes.html.</ref>. As the expenses scandal gained public notoriety by mid-2009, particular attention was placed on flipping as one of the most deviant abuses of the expenses system. Many high-profile MPs including cabinet ministers were accused of flipping. Perhaps the most high-profile resignation to result from the scandal was that of the Secretary for Communities and Local Government, Hazel Blears. Blears brought a property in Kensington, London that was sold after four months at a profit of £45,000 (BBC 2009)<ref>BBC. 2009. ‘Blears Will Pay Tax on Flat Sale’, May 12, sec. Politics. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8047005.stm.</ref>. Because the property was designated as a second home, it was exempt from capital gains tax and mortgage repayments, leading to widespread criticism that the property had been bought with the intention of making a profit by ‘flipping’ it under the second home allowances system.

The practice of flipping came to prominence with the so-called ‘expenses scandal’ that broke in 2009. The Daily Telegraph first brought the expenses scandal into the public eye and in doing so, focussed heavily on flipping as one of the most financially significant and unethical abuses of the parliamentary expenses system (Daily Telegraph 2009)<ref>The Daily Telepgraph. 2009. ‘MPs’ Expenses: Six Figure Profits from Sale of Taxpayer-Subsidised Homes’. December 13. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/6797620/MPs-expenses-six-figure-profits-from-sale-of-taxpayer-subsidised-homes.html.</ref>. As the expenses scandal gained public notoriety by mid-2009, particular attention was placed on flipping as one of the most deviant abuses of the expenses system. Many high-profile MPs including cabinet ministers were accused of flipping. Perhaps the most high-profile resignation to result from the scandal was that of the Secretary for Communities and Local Government, Hazel Blears. Blears brought a property in Kensington, London that was sold after four months at a profit of £45,000 (BBC 2009)<ref>BBC. 2009. ‘Blears Will Pay Tax on Flat Sale’, May 12, sec. Politics. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8047005.stm.</ref>. Because the property was designated as a second home, it was exempt from capital gains tax and mortgage repayments, leading to widespread criticism that the property had been bought with the intention of making a profit by ‘flipping’ it under the second home allowances system.