Dozens of MPs are claiming taxpayer-funded expenses to rent homes or stay in hotel rooms in London while letting out property they own nearby, it emerged last night.

The 46 MPs have claimed more than £1.3million for rent or hotel rooms at the same time as receiving rent from properties that were often purchased and refurbished from taxpayers’ money.

An investigation by Channel 4 News found 25 Conservatives, 14 Labour and four Liberal Democrats had benefited from the expenses loophole, which is not against parliamentary rules.

Many of the MPs bought their London properties with the help of the taxpayer under the previous expenses system that allowed claims for mortgage payments.

46 MPs - including Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy (left) and former Conservative health secretary Andrew Lansley (right) - have claimed more than £1.3million for rent or hotel rooms at the same time as receiving rent from properties

But since the claims were banned by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) following the expenses scandal, the MPs have switched to renting out the properties they own and instead claimed expenses for rent and hotels.

Under the current system, MPs are allowed to claim £20,600 a year in London rent and £150 a night for hotels.

Labour’s shadow culture minister Chris Bryant has claimed £35,350 in the past two years to rent a property in London despite already owning a penthouse.

He bought the two-bedroom apartment, which has a private lift and porter, in 2005 and claimed around £1,000 a month in mortgage claims.

But when the rules changed he moved into another flat and let out the property he already owned for around £3,000 a month.

Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy owns a property two miles from Westminster that he bought with taxpayer help. But in the previous two years he claimed £39,372 to rent another flat for himself.

Labour’s shadow culture minister Chris Bryant (left) has claimed £35,350 in the past two years to rent a property in London despite owning a penthouse. Former Liberal Democrat defence minister Sir Nick Harvey (right) has charged the taxpayer £39,772 for the rent of a flat, despite owning a house in Lambeth

Former Liberal Democrat defence minister Sir Nick Harvey has charged the taxpayer £39,772 in expense claims for the rent of a flat, despite owning a house in Lambeth, which he has let out to tenants since the rule change.

Andrew Lansley, the former Tory health secretary, has claimed more than £7,440 since 2013 to stay in London hotels, despite owning a flat with his wife in upmarket Pimlico, which was bought with help under the old expenses system.

SNP MP Angus MacNeil owns a flat in Lambeth, a short walk from the Houses of Parliament, which was paid for with taxpayer help. But he has claimed £42,177 in hotel expenses om the three years since 2012/13.

Former Chairman of the Committee for Standards in Public Life Sir Alistair Graham said MPs should be seen to be upholding the spirit of the rules that state they must not ‘exploit the system for personal financial advantage’.

Former Chairman of the Committee for Standards in Public Life Sir Alistair Graham (above) said MPs should be seen to be upholding the spirit of the rules that state they must not ‘exploit the system for personal financial advantage’

He told Channel 4 News: ‘It’s not always just about exactly what the rules say. It is about you taking personal responsibility that public funds are used in a proper and appropriate way that your constituents would be comfortable with.

‘I’m sure we will hear all sorts of sob stories about why it’s justifiable to do what they’ve done.

‘But they must know in their heart of hearts that the public will see this as MPs on the make.’

Last night MPs said the rules banning mortgage claims had forced them to let out their second home to be able to afford the mortgage payments.

Sir Nick Harvey said: ‘This situation is not of the MPs’ choosing. MPs have been obliged to let out their own properties since 2010 because the new rules say they cannot claim mortgage interest – only rent.

‘Letting income covers the mortgage and other outgoings and is of course taxed. It is not MPs’ fault that the rules compel them to rent a separate flat to live in.’

Mr MacNeil blamed the current rules and said MPs should be allowed to claim for flats they own, as they did in the past.

Mr Lansley said he normally commuted to Parliament from his home in South Cambridgeshire and only stayed overnight in London hotel about once a month.

He told Channel 4 News: ‘My expense claims have always sought to minimise the cost to the taxpayer. My relatively few overnight stays in London (barely once a month in the last year) meant that my expenses claims would be lower for occasional hotel stays in sitting weeks than for the costs of maintaining a flat in Westminster.’