Blunkett's £100,000 home bill

The house was bought for security reasons

In excess of £100,000 has been spent on David Blunkett's official London residence in the past year, the home secretary has disclosed.

No further major refurbishment work should be required

David Blunkett

The cost of the Home Office leasing the house was £19,222 during 2001-2.

That figure includes utilities and ground rent.

A further £85,000 was spent on refurbishing the property, according to a House of Commons written answer.

Mr Blunkett said that the refurbishment was the "first for some years" and the work was "now largely complete".

"This was needed to maintain the repair and value of the property and to deal with the impact of substantial flood and storm damage."

Security decision

Mr Blunkett added that the completion of "this cycle of work will put the property on a sound footing for the future.

"No further major refurbishment work should be required."

The decision to acquire the property for the home secretary of the day was made because of security implications.