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Housing chief has £60,000 interest-free home loan
Paul Waugh04.03.09
Whitehall's top mandarin for housing is receiving an interest-free home loan funded by the taxpayer, the Evening Standard can reveal.
Peter Housden, the £195,000-a-year Permanent Secretary at the Department for Communities and Local Government, gets the perk on his £1.4million home in Blackheath which he bought seven years ago for £620,000.
He was given a £60,000 housing loan to help him move to London when he joined the Department for Education and Skills from Nottinghamshire County Council.
He was promoted from the DfES to his current post in 2005. When his generous public sector pension is taken into account, Mr Housden's total pay package is estimated to be worth £242,000 a year.
As Permanent Secretary, the senior civil servant is in overall charge of delivering government policy on housing and homebuy schemes. But the small print of departmental accounts shows he continues to receive a £12,800 "benefit in kind" in free interest on the loan.
Shadow housing minister Grant Shapps told the Standard: "At a time when first-time buyers can't get a mortgage, it sends out the wrong message.
"A resettlement allowance is not uncommon But there must be questions asked about the justification for this seven years after having moved to London."
Reader views (14)
I am totally sick and tired of the media stating that public sector workers receive a gold plated pension. This is completely untrue for ordinary local government workers so please do not class us all with the same brush. Most local government workers' pensions are a pittance with the majority of these workers receiving no more than a "golden handshake" of ?4,000. Not exactly a "golden handshake" is it? So just remember this amount when the media are telling you about our "gold plated" pensions.
- Maggie - Nottingham, Clifton, Nottingham
Where does one obtain the necessary "work experience" to obtain high level civil service jobs, which allow you to scam the system (an taxpayers) apparently legally and indefinately?
. . . Or is it simply a case of cronyism?
Either way, I'd like £60,000.00 TAX FREE for starters, thank you very much!!!
- Fraser, Telford Park
why is it that all the public servants in politics, councils, the civil service and all manner of allied
occupations appear to believe that they are above and beyond the rules, regulations and common moral principles that apply to those they 'apparently serve?'
animal farm and the corrupt practice of communism, rather than the theory spring to mind. four hundred years ago Cromwell and the levelers supposedly balked against the elitism of certain minoroites. it would appear nothing is learnt from the abuses repeatedly highlighted by history.
- M.O'Brien, london.uk
The British taxpayer is being totally ripped off by everyone. It is time all salaries, perks and pensions in the public sector are made public, there has got to be accountability with taxpayers money. We need the names of those who hand out our money as they need to be replaced.
- Maggie, London UK
That is unbelievable - is everybody milking the system apart from me?
- Chris, London
He should be paying tax on the benefit in kind that he is receiving by having an interest free loan. But I bet he isn't.
- Nobby Clark, Perth, Scotland
It seems more and more that instead of being regarded as 'hard-working families' taxpayers are being used to support the profligate lifstyles of politicians, MPs and bankers. Goodwin's pension scam, Jacqui Smith's spare bedroom scam, Spelman's nanny scam, the Ballses' main home scam... when is it going to just stop? And all we hear is oh, it's within the rules, oh, it was inadvertent, when it is in fact morally and ethically wrong.
- John Mcclane, Bexley, Kent, UK
It is bad HR practice to have special deals like this for people, especially if they are allowed to continue beyond a reasonable transition period. It makes you wonder what else senior civil servants are allowed to get away with at the taxpayer's expense.
- Andrew, hampton
Make him pay back the loan with interest. If I changed jobs I would not expect my new employer to lend me £60K towards removal costs.
- R.F., Yorks, UK
oink oink, another snout in the tax payers trough.
- Ben, London
More greed and contempt for taxpayers. When will the system be overhauled to prevent the THEM and US society fostered by New labour?
- Paul Scott, Edinburgh
These are the kind of values the Labour Party stands for.
- Alan In Bow, London
When is this all going to stop!
It seems all involved in the government of this country feel free to take us the UK tax payer for a ride. They could not see the problem with Sir Fred's pension as he was just acting like one of their own.
- James,, London, UK
Well tax his benefit in kind at 100%. How hypocritical of this Govt to critisise Fred the Shred, when most of the top Public Servants (Who don't serve the public but lord it over us) From Inspector, sorry Superintendant Knacker down are all paid performance bonuses and get massive state allowances. Like the unaffordable public sector pensions, we can't afford all this largess. If he needed a £60K loan to buy his £620K house, he should have bought a £560k house and not expected to be funded out of the public purse. When he sells the property, do we as the tax payer who have a 10% stake in it, get £140K back. I doubt it. He new what the job was when he applied, so why did this Government offer this perk. It's not only bankers who are greedy.
- Alan, carlisle uk
