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BRITAIN’S richest Tory MP is raking in at least £625,000 a year from his hard-up tenants’ housing benefit.

Property tycoon Richard Benyon, who is worth £110million and owns land from Inverness-shire to Hampshire, is a vocal critic of benefits and the welfare state.

But the former environment minister is happy to cash in on the payments his party has pledged to slash and collect benefit to cover his tenants’ rents.

His Englefield Estate collected £625,964 from properties in the West Berkshire Council area alone last year – more than any other private landlord in the district.

Benyon’s office last night refused to comment on the figure or confirm whether Englefield got more housing benefit from other councils.

But the MP’s firm also have extensive land holdings and own 300 houses in Hackney, east London.

Just last month, Benyon, 53, said: “The average household spends £3000 per year on the welfare state. This figure had been rising inexorably and unaffordably.”

Benyon has also previously attacked the Labour Party over welfare payments and said: “Labour want benefits to go up more than the earnings of people in work.

“This isn’t fair and we will not let them bring back their something for nothing culture.”

Eileen Short, of Defend Council Housing, said last night: “How dare Richard Benyon lecture us about ‘something for nothing’ when he and others like him are living off the

poorest and milking taxpayers all the way to the bank?

“It’s not tenants who gain from housing benefit, but some of the richest people in Britain. They get richer at our expense – and blame us while they’re at it.”

Our investigation comes after it emerged UKIP’s housing spokesman Andrew

Charalambous was making a fortune off migrant tenants on benefits – despite party leader Nigel Farage calling for a ban on foreigners claiming welfare.

(Image: The People)

The loaded landlord has pocketed £745,351 in housing benefit from occupants, who he admits include immigrants.

Married dad-of-five Benyon is a director of the Englefield Estate Trust Corporation Limited, who own most of the land and property linked to his family.

Their farms have also received more than £2million in EU subsidies since 2000.

The public school educated MP for Newbury comes from a long line of Tory politicians. Dad Sir William Benyon was an MP for more than 20 years and his great-great-grandad was PM Lord Salisbury.

Benyon is one of a string of Tories and their donors who pocketed large sums in housing benefit last year.

Tory donor Sir Richard Sutton’s Settled Estates Ltd received £67,521 in from West Berkshire Council.

Sir Richard, 76, inherited a £150million fortune and is estimated to be the 522nd wealthiest person in Britain.

Tory peer Lord Cavendish, 72, benefited from £106,938 in housing benefit last year from Barrow Council in Cumbria through his shareholding in Holker Estates.

And the estate of one of Britain’s richest men, the billionaire Earl of Cadogan, 76, a Tory donor, received £116,400 in benefit from Kensington and Chelsea Council.

Eileen Short added: “It’s time we stopped greedy private landlords living off housing benefit. Instead of subsidising landlords, we ought to cut rents, not benefits, and invest the money in council housing that’s secure and really affordable. Let’s get these people off our backs.”

Do you have a fatcat landlord? Contact us on 0141 309 3251 or reporters@dailyrecord.co.uk