
John McDonnell was accused of hypocrisy today over his plans to clamp down on buy to let landlords after it was revealed that he and his wife are second home owners.

The Shadow Chancellor and his second wife Cynthia Pinto jointly own an idyllic chalet bungalow at a riverside beauty spot on the Norfolk Broads.

The wooden property has its own jetty and a quayside on the banks of the River Thurne as well as a smart garden with a double swinging seat, a dining table and chairs, and a pergola with climbing roses.

The hard-left Labour politician, who has his main home in a £760,000 house in Hillingdon, west London, currently keeps three boats at his second home so he can enjoy pottering around peacefully on the water while escaping the rough and tumble of life in Westminster.

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell and his wife Cynthia Pinto own this riverside chalet bungalow on the Norfolk Broads

Land Registry records confirm that Labour's Shadow Chancellor and his wife paid £135,000 in cash in December 2013 for the two bedroom leasehold property in the popular holiday village of Potter Heigham

The wooden property has its own jetty and a quayside on the banks of the River Thurne (pictured) as well as a smart garden with a double swinging seat, a dining table and chairs, and a pergola with climbing roses

The hard-left Labour politician and his second wife have their main home in a £760,000 house in Hillingdon, London (above)

Neighbours said that McDonnell pays a local handyman to look after his garden which has a neatly trimmed lawn and an array of tradition English plants such as pink and red roses, fuchsias and honeysuckle.

The front door of the chalet is at the rear of the property, overlooking a riverside path, with peaceful views of marshland fields and a distant meadow with cows.

McDonnell (above), 67, and his wife Cynthia enjoy weekends away at their second property on the Norfolk Broads

A spokesperson for McDonnell said: 'John and his wife have a riverside holiday hut, with mooring, two small row boats and a small sailer cruiser that he is restoring. The hut is used by his family for holidays where he enjoys a great time sailing with his children and grandchildren. To own a hut you have to become a member of the management company for the site. John has received no complaints from neighbours about anything.'

Land Registry records confirm that Labour's Shadow Chancellor and his wife paid £135,000 in cash in December 2013 for the two bedroom leasehold property in the popular holiday village of Potter Heigham.

The average salary in Norfolk is £23,295 and the average first time property buyer price is £185,587.

It is believed that the chalet is now worth around £170,000 as they have carried out improvements to it and prices in the area have soared by more than 18 per cent in the last five years according to property website Zoopla.

But some villagers have been left less than impressed by McDonnell's revelation this week that Labour planned to target Britain's 2.7 million private landlords in its project to redistribute the nation's wealth.

McDonnell said he wanted to offer private tenants the same right to buy their home for a bargain price as council tenants, meaning that landlords would lose out by being forced to sell for less than the market price.

The controversial policy would not affect second home owners like McDonnell and his wife who do not rent out their additional property.

One near neighbour of McDonnell said: 'When I saw the news about him banging on about punishing people for being private landlords, I thought, 'Hang on a minute, he's a second home owner himself.'

'It seems a bit hypocritical and duplicitous for him to be targeting landlords when he and his wife have their own second home.

The chalet (pictured) is now believed to be worth around £170,000 as they have carried out improvements to it and prices in the area have soared by more than 18 per cent in the last five years according to property website Zoopla

The wooden property has its own jetty and a quayside on the banks of the River Thurne as well as a smart garden with a double swinging seat, a dining table and chairs, and a pergola with climbing roses

McDonnell (pictured with his wife) sparked outrage this week when he said Labour planned to target Britain's 2.7m private landlords in its project to redistribute the nation's wealth. He said he wanted to offer private tenants the same right to buy their home as council tenants, meaning that landlords would lose out by being forced to sell for less than the market price

Some of the policies he has been reported as coming up with are very, very Marxist. 'At least half the bungalows on the riverbanks here are rented out as holiday homes.

McDonnell could probably make £350 a week in the winter and up to £700 a week in the summer if he rented his place out – but he does not do it.

'He and his wife just keep it for their families. They come up here quite regularly for weekends, especially in the summer.

One neighbour in the village of Potter Heigham accused socialist politician McDonnell of hypocrisy over plans to target second home owners when he owns one himself

'McDonnell's son finished university last year and came up with three or four friends for a week. They created bedlam, making a lot of noise and jumping in the river. They even bashed his boat into the staithe at Potter Heigham.

'I know one of the neighbours called McDonnell's wife to tell her what the hell was going on at their property

'I have seen him relaxing in the garden in full view of all the holidaymakers going past on their boats. Nobody seems to recognise him, but the people who have homes around here all know who he is.

'Members of his wife's family also stay here, and I have seen a guy who looks just like McDonnell. I am guessing he is his brother.'

McDonnell's chalet cannot be accessed by car and is nearly half a mile walk away from the nearest car park on his side of the river.

The neighbour who asked not to be named said McDonnell paid for an annual parking permit in a car park on the opposite side of the river.

He added: 'When he is coming up here, he calls his handyman who runs a water taxi service. The handyman then takes his boat to the other side of the river to pick him up.

'If he wants to go somewhere when he is staying here, he can take his boat across to the other side, moor it up, and then go off in his car.

'I remember seeing him early in the morning, dressed in his suit and red tie as he rowed across the river to get to his car. Then a few hours later I saw him on TV on one of the political shows.

'The local handyman does a really good job of looking after their place. Last year I think he replaced all the wood on their jetty, their quay heading and their decking. It would probably have cost around £2,000.'

The neighbour revealed that McDonnell sold his 17ft long Skipper 17 yacht with a cockpit big enough for four crew, for around £1,000 last year.

He now has another similar sized, but slightly scruffy yacht, with an outboard engine and a mast which can be lowered to get under bridges.

The yacht is moored at McDonnell's own jetty, just a short distance away from a small rowing boat with its own outboard engine on his quayside.

A third rowing boat was seen lying upturned on the jetty today. McDonnell and his wife bought their property with 63 years remaining on its lease.

McDonnell has long standing links with Norfolk, having grown up in Great Yarmouth. His mother worked at British Home Stores in the town for 30 years, and his father was a branch secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union

The freehold of the land is owned by the Environment Agency. In common with all other leaseholders in the area, they are shareholders in the Thurne Bungalow Management Company which manages their homes.

Neighbours said that they had to pay a service charge of around £200 a year, entitling them to have their rubbish collected once a week by a rubbish collection boat.

McDonnell has long standing links with Norfolk, having grown up in Great Yarmouth. His mother worked at British Home Stores in the town for 30 years, and his father was a branch secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union.

McDonnell and his wife are known to regularly pop in to the BridgeStones restaurant and tearoom at Potter Heigham for tea and snacks.

One regular at the café said: 'He is a nice guy. He comes to Norfolk to relax. Nobody around here bothers him.'