A Labour MP made more than £30,000 from a taxpayer-funded housing scheme criticised by his party as a “lucrative money-spinning opportunity”. Gurinder Singh Josan, who is the MP for Smethwick, co-owns a five-bedroom house used to accommodate vulnerable people, including drug addicts, asylum seekers and the homeless. For six years, Birmingham city council paid £473,475 to organisations running the property, which housed more than 60 people. Mr Josan and his family received more than £30,000, with the rest going to companies managing the property, The Telegraph understands. The payments were made through the “exempt accommodation” system, which allows landlords to charge the taxpayer higher rents that are not subject to standard housing benefit caps. Gurinder Singh Josan MP with Sir Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner during the 2024 local elections in Dudley – Eddie Keogh/Getty The sector has faced sustained criticism for enabling landlords to profit from housing vulnerable people, often in poor-quality accommodation. In 2022, Shabana Mahmood, now the Home Secretary, criticised it as a “lucrative money-spinning opportunity” for landlords. After being approached by …