Tenants illegally subletting offered two-month amnesty to hand in keys

The London Borough of Camden has offered a two-month amnesty to tenants who are illegally subletting their council home.

Residents committing or involved with housing fraud will have until 1 October to hand in their keys without facing further action for tenancy fraud offences.

The local authority highlighted the changes introduced by the Prevention of Social Housing Fraud Act 2013, under which people subletting a social tenancy without permission face:

  • Up to two years in prison;
  • A criminal record;
  • An unlimited fine.

“After the amnesty on 1 October, Camden will make full use of the new powers to get the maximum penalty possible in each case,” the authority warned.

The move comes as two prosecutions by the council led to convictions this month.

In one case, a private landlord – Mohammed Wahidul Rahman Aziz, 28, of Iverson Road, London NW6 – pleaded guilty at Highbury Corner Magistrates Court to one count of fraud relating to failure to disclose information on his application for social housing.

Aziz failed to disclose that he had purchased a property in the Wirral, Merseyside, and was receiving rental payments from tenants. He was fined £100 and ordered to pay Camden’s £1,800 costs.

In the second case a former tenant – Vivek Srivastava, 32, of Mercury House, Jude Street, London, E16 – was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £6,000 costs at Blackfriars Crown Court after he pleaded guilty to two charges under the Fraud Act.

Srivastava was a council tenant in Bloomsbury but it was discovered that he had vacated the property and sublet it to students. The defendant also failed to disclose that he had purchased a property in June 2010.

Cllr Julian Fulbrook, Cabinet member for housing at Camden, said: “Tenancy fraud is a very serious problem and these court results show that it is something that we do not tolerate in Camden.

“We have a strong track record in tackling those who try to cheat our system. Our message is that those people who don’t play by the rules not only risk being caught but aren’t being fair to people in genuine housing need.”

See also: What the Prevention of Social Housing Fraud Act 2013 means in practice by Byron Britton of Temple Court Chambers