Westminster secures first Fraud Act conviction for unlawful subletting, calls for greater powers

March 15, 2012

Westminster Council has called on the Government to give local authorities greater powers to tackle unlawful subletting after becoming the latest council to secure the conviction of a tenant under the Fraud Act 2006.

Herminio Nascimento, 42 and a former tenant of a two-bedroom property on the Westbourne Park Estate, was sentenced at Westminster Magistrates’ Court to 16 weeks in prison.

The defendant had sublet the property whilst living with his partner in a property they jointly owned in Crawley in Sussex.

It is the first time that Westminster, which was awarded £7,100 in legal costs, has used the 2006 Act to tackle unlawful subletting.

The council nevertheless called on the Government to “incentivise and not penalise local authorities for tackling the issue” by granting them greater powers.

Cllr Lindsay Hall, Chairman of Westminster’s Housing Benefit Fraud Group, said: “This is just a small victory for the council but much more needs to be done to allow local authorities to take action against what should be a criminal offence.”

In January Housing Minister Grant Shapps unveiled proposals for such a new criminal offence, which would attract a maximum sentence of two years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to £50,000 if the case goes to the Crown Court.

The Minister also suggested that the proceeds of tenancy fraud could be reimbursed to social landlords rather than confiscated by the State, and vowed to give local authorities greater powers to investigate possible fraud.

In November 2011 Camden Council became one of the first local authorities to prosecute successfully a council tenant for housing fraud under the Fraud Act.

Oladapo Talabi was prosecuted under sections 1 and 3 for failing to disclose information to make a gain and exposing the council to loss.

He was given a Community Order of 12 months comprising 100 hours of unpaid work. District Judge Henderson concluded that Talabi had been using the rental income from subletting the council property to pay off his debts, particularly his rent arrears.

Solicitor