Sir Paul, who was named last year as the 34th most “influential” dentist in the country, worked out a deal with the House of Commons fees office whereby he put three quarters of the running costs of the property on the taxpayer.
The MP for Mole Valley in Surrey, who served as an environment minister under John Major for three years while retaining his successful dental practice, insisted that the arrangement was cheaper for the taxpayer.
But the understanding with the fees office is certain to raise further questions about the lax policing of MPs’ expenses, after it emerged that officials did not visit the surgery to assess Sir Paul’s designation of his property, or ask to see floor plans.
Before his election to Parliament in 1992, the property — two floors of a Georgian town house above a hairdressing salon in Putney, south-west London — was registered with the local council as 50 per cent residential and 50 per cent business.
He had set up two surgeries within the flat, which were served by three dentists.
On becoming an MP, Sir Paul said the fees office suggested that he purchase a second home but he decided instead to reduce his practice and go part-time.
As the council and some utility companies charged him separate business rates, he said he decided that “roughly” three-quarters of the costs of the flat were related to his parliamentary duties and so should be borne by the taxpayer.
This included mortgage interest payments of £350 a month, ground rent and other bills.
Sir Paul said that, at this stage, he had only one surgery and no associates, and that the patient waiting room doubled as his private lounge in the evenings. However, it appeared that his assessment was not independently scrutinised by officials.
The MP decided to increase his practice in 2007 and took on a larger share of the running costs, putting 50 per cent on the taxpayer.
Last year, he began to convert the surgery back to its original state, and stopped claiming second home allowances altogether. He said he would not claim again in future. The Putney practice bears a gold plaque reading: “Sir Paul Beresford, Derrick Donald and associates dental surgery.”
One patient said: “He is very good, very gentle, a very nice man. He works very hard, on Sundays, too. I think he does dentistry work at least four days a week. I knew he was an MP because he’s always rushing from here to there.”
Contacted by the Telegraph, Sir Paul said his claims were among the lowest in the Commons, adding that he had suffered financially as a result of cutting back his surgery hours and by not claiming for a separate second home.
“Patients are aware and accept the Commons takes precedence and accept short-notice cancellations,” he said.
“The mortgage interest was relatively low so I decided that this was a preferable option as it cost the taxpayer less even though I lost money on the much-reduced dental practice.
“In effect, so as to reduce the cost to the taxpayer, I have lost private income. The taxpayer is not subsidising my practice.”
Sir Paul, who is married with four children, was knighted in 1990 for his services to inner-city rehabilitation. He was the council leader in Wandsworth, south London, in the 1980s at a time when Lady Thatcher championed the borough for its low taxes and revolutionary approach to services, which involved hiring private contractors instead of council staff.
His rating as an influential dentist came in a poll of colleagues run by dentistry.co.uk.
Sir Paul Beresford
Job: backbench Conservative MP
Salary: £64,766
Total second home claims
2004-05: £9,154
2005-06: £7,694
2006-07: £5,328
2007-08: £3,521
