Council secures £34k order against tenant who had sub-let property since 2010

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea has secured a £34,000 court order against an unnamed tenant who had unlawfully sub-let their two-bedroom home for more than a decade.

The council said the property in North Kensington had since been allocated to a young family.

The previous tenant had been sub-letting the property since 2010 and was living overseas, Kensington & Chelsea said.

The fraud came to light in January 2022 when the property’s sub-tenant approached the council’s homelessness team because she suspected that the tenant had stopped paying bills.

Further investigation revealed that the tenant was living outside of the country and was receiving money from the sub-tenant each month.

In addition to taking action against the tenant to recover the property and illegal profits, the council’s housing team worked to support the innocent sub-tenant into alternative accommodation.

In 2022 Kensington & Chelsea’s investigations team recovered four illegally sublet properties in one week.

“Tenancy fraud deprives those on the housing list in genuine need of a home and each case is estimated to cost the public purse £42,000 on average,” the local authority said.

Cllr Kim Taylor-Smith, Lead Member for Housing, said: “It’s hard to think of a better way to start a new year than moving into a safe, permanent place home and I’m really proud that our housing fraud team have helped to deliver that for this family. 

“Housing fraud is not a victimless crime and every person cheating the system to make a fast buck is depriving a family like this of a home to call their own.”