[custom_adv] When Anthony Trollope’s fictional creation Phineas Finn returned to London from Ireland as a newly elected member of parliament, he was greeted with great fanfare by his landlady, Mrs Bunce. [custom_adv] Politics is a peripatetic business. Most capital cities play host to a transient flock of politicians, flitting from constituency to parliament and back again, often on a weekly basis. [custom_adv] There is little international consensus about how countries should house their representatives. The most common system is to provide allowances to cover the cost of a second home, but solutions range from state-owned housing in Sweden to shared dorms in Myanmar. [custom_adv] Some US congressmen and women famously sleep overnight in their offices, a perk which Capitol Hill news site RollCall estimates saves them up to 10 per cent of their salary which would otherwise be spent on Washington’s pricey housing. Others share apartments which have been dubbed political frat houses, as parodied in the 2013 Amazon TV show Alpha House. [custom_adv] Washington is not the only world city where housing costs pose a problem for politicians. For newcomers to London, the capital’s sky-high property prices and fierce competition can be a daunting prospect and, with more scrutiny over their expenses than ever, some British politicians have found innovative cost-saving solutions, such as those used by newly elected Labour MPs Jess Phillips and Jo Cox.
