In September 2007, the married couple and Labour Cabinet ministers, Ed Balls, the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, and Yvette Cooper, then the Housing Minister, used the Commons' allowances system to pay for a £655,000 house in Stoke Newington, North London. The couple subsequently declared this to be their second home, despite spending most of their time in London in order to fulfil their ministerial responsibilities and their children attending London schools.

The declaration of the Stoke Newington property as their second home meant that they became eligible for a reported Additional Costs Allowance (ACA) of £44,000 a year to cover the property's £438,000 mortgage.

The Conservative MP Malcolm Moss made a complaint to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, who agreed to launch an investigation into the matter. The commissioner ultimately found that the couple had acted in accordance with parliamentary rules and as such dismissed the complaint against them. The Committee on Standards and Privileges agreed with the Commissioner's dismissal of the complaint.