Mirror: Ukip housing spokesman raking in £800,000 in Housing Benefit

The Mirror has laid into UKIP by exposing the party’s housing and environment spokesman as a landlord who has received over £1.5m in Housing Benefit over two years for housing vulnerable tenants.

The paper says Andrew Charalambous is a millionaire who owns hundreds of properties in London – and making a lot of money from a system he doesn't believe in.

Ukip has made a name for itself by demanding new migrants stop receiving various benefits.

“The party is keen to restrict the welfare state. Yet some of the main beneficiaries of the welfare spending in the London council of Haringey have been people like Mr Charalambous,” said the report.

The union GMB submitted Freedom of Information requests to discover Charalambous received £826,395 from Haringey Council in housing benefit last year, and £745,351 the year before.

The Mirror approached the UKIP press office asking if Charalambous believed he was hypocritical for taking on migrants as tenants.

In response he told the paper:  "Until there is sufficient social housing in our country it is the moral duty of landlords to take on housing benefit tenants.

"Most private landlords prefer to rent to non-housing benefit tenants where they are likely to receive higher rents. Indeed, the number of private landlords willing to accept housing benefit tenants is declining."

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