A team of MP's have swapped their comfortable constituency homes for a week living in social housing estates across the country for a Channel 4 documentary.

'Tower Block of Commons' is to be screened on Monday nights at 9pm, featuring MP's such as former Conservative leader Iain Duncan-Smith, as well as Mark Oaten, Tim Loughton, Austin Mitchell and Nadine Dorries.

Inside Housing reports that during the programme, the MP's were asked to relinquish their mobile phones and wallets to experience life without expenses funding from taxpayers.

The MP's were forced to wholeheartedly embrace living in social housing and after their experience empathised with those in social housing jobs and housing management jobs who work on a daily basis with residents, encountering problems such as fear of crime, drug addictions, anti-social behaviour and social or cultural issues.

Some MP's coped better than others and were shocked by the scale of problems on social housing estates. Mr Mitchell was astounded by widespread drug problems stating that he had previously thought that such reports were 'folklore'. One MP pulled out after one day and another refused to stay in a tower block unless he had a private flat with his wife.

Mr Mitchell said of his experience: ''People living in social housing have a raw deal compared to those who have brought their own homes. We have become obsessed with ownership and we have just not built enough good quality council or housing association homes''.

Mark Oaten. former Lib Dem MP found the experience highly emotional, saying: ''I may not have knocked down the tower blocks, but I hope I broke down some barriers towards politicians. In the end they all came out to wave goodbye with lots of hugs and crying.''