Subletting a council property

Beware, tenants: it is a criminal offence to sublet your social housing property, and the council will not take it lightly.

Under the Prevention of Social Housing Fraud Act 2013, unlawfully subletting a social housing property became a criminal offence. While housing associations cannot bring proceedings themselves, they can authorise a local authority to act on their behalf.

A former London & Quadrant tenant knows this all too well. Along with benefit fraud charges, the former tenant pleaded guilty to subletting her L&Q flat in Edmonton. She was ordered to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work and received a 16-month sentence, suspended for two years.

Enfield Council became the first local authority in the country to use the new legislation successfully. Cllr Ahmet Oykener, Enfield Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing and Estate Regeneration, said: “Subletting a council property denies housing to those most in need in the borough, and also lines the pockets of fraudsters who often let to unsuspecting people, who can then find themselves homeless when the fraud is discovered.”

Read more about housing fraud.