A three bedroom house has been freed up after a remarkably long investigation by a London council.
The result follows a legal battle with a Bangladeshi national who'd entered the UK in 1993 on a stolen identity, using someone else's passport.
Uxbridge county court was told the resident, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had presented to the council as homeless, along with her four children, back in 2002. She was offered temporary accommodation, then placed on the council's waiting list, where she later made a successful bid for a three-bedroom council rental property in Uxbridge, in August 2003.
In 2018 the council's housing team was made aware the resident was under investigation by the council's counter fraud team for deception and that criminal proceedings were being brought against her and her husband.
In 2019 she was charged with, and later admitted, claiming social security benefits that she wasn't entitled to, totalling more than £234,000 and was later sentenced to three and a half years in prison.
Following her conviction, the council instructed its legal services team to obtain possession of the property, however the tenant refused to give it back and a legal wrangle ensued which lasted four years. She was finally evicted on 19 April this year.
A Hillingdon council spokesperson says: "This is a really quite remarkable story of a resident's two decades of deception and the following four-year legal saga that has fortunately ended with freeing-up a vital home that can go to a family in genuine need from our waiting list.
"I thank our fraud and legal teams for their unwavering work to get this result, which demonstrates our dogged determination to pursue and take action against those who seek to swindle the council."
Want to comment on this story? Our focus is on providing a platform for you to share your insights and views and we welcome contributions.
If any post is considered to victimise, harass, degrade or intimidate an individual or group of individuals, then the post may be deleted and the individual immediately banned from posting in future.
Please help us by reporting comments you consider to be unduly offensive so we can review and take action if necessary. Thank you.
.jpg)
%20(002).png)
.png)
Join the conversation
Jump to latest comment and add your reply
But everyone knows all tenants are perfect and all landlords are evil scumbags …
So, someone has had a house they shouldn’t have for more than 20 years. The council didnt do the proper checks and had no idea for 15 years. It then took their fraud team 5 years to get the property back. The thief in question has had £234k of free public money, and then spent 3+ years in jail (at a further cost of £150k to the taxpayer)
And then a council spokesperson praises the efforts of the fraud team, instead of accepting this is a story of failure and incompetence at every level of council/government involvement. The spokesperson should be apologising for the huge waste of tax payers money, not praising their colleagues.
Absolutely right Steve. They should now profile and look into other cases but first make sure that their current checks are robust enough to ensure that this does not happen again.
If the government concentrated on the absolute waste in monies going out of the system then there would be no need to pummel landlords and every other taxpayer to the point of surrender.
Covid loans is another example, one guy who rented a shop off me said he couldn't pay because he was closed but claimed over 10k in loans... Shortly after he shut it down and disappeared.
Couldn't agree with you more. If landlords let anyone in who don't have the right to rent, landlords will be fined or jailed. It will be interesting to know who is going to jail for this? Is this a rogue council? Deport the illegal immigrants and refund the council £234K.
Ask the questions where they got the advice on how to abuse the system to cheat the process, is it Shelter?
This is a lesson that council should check yearly who are under the benefits and if they are qualified year on year.
Has she been deported or does she go back on benefits when released?
Probably Whacked a claim in for hurt feelings and victimisation...
What a broken country we inhabit 🆘🆘
BROKEN BRITAIN CAN BE FIXED :
ENGLAND IS ROTTEN WITHIN THE CORE AND ON THE SURFACE.
The good in between, the 'Middle' as the fair & sane, are sadly also doomed
Why can't they be named and mugshot provided - the real name,that is?
If it takes the council's legal services team 5 years to get a property back, what hope do the rest of us have?
Hoping we can do it sooner as not incompetent!
A success story in that perhaps a family who actually need the house will get it - but of course no guarantee. Just horrendous that probably £500K or so was spent on this case - £234,00 in deception, £cost to house in prison, £$$$$ cost in legal fees to get the house back - How can the council not be entitled to the house back when she has gone to prison for fraud!! and how did it take 4 years - they obviously didn't use S21!!
The ultimate loser is the taxpayer and the families actually in need.
The law does not require the return of the property just because the tenant is in prison. The tenant under the law is entitled to keep the property whilst they are in prison,, they are required to continue to meet the obligations of the tenancy agreement. If for example they are not paying the rent whilst they are in prison, the LL still has to follow the section 8 procedures to formally evict the tenant. Absolute madness.
Few things on this
1. How was she allowed to claim anything?
2. Whos' paying for the kids?
3. Guess she has had the kids while being in the UK for thirty years illegally
4. Any chance of the taxpayer getting the money back? All those who have had a demand at some point and have to pay or face drama put your hand up..!
5. If she was sentenced to three and half years how can she not give the property back?
6. If she didn't give the property back who was paying for it?
7. Who on earth was defending her right to be here (Khan's Ambulance Chasing Mates?)
How can the Peloton World Champions now start to pat each other on the back when they have wilfully neglected their duties for over twenty years. Full investigation required.
Just shows how hard and long it takes to Evict bad tenants, without the Govt's meddling in Reform !
If it hurts their own pockets, the reaction will be totally different.
just shows how completely soft this country has sunk....soft border force,soft council soft judges same pathetic excuses from them at the top laughing stock of the world...
John Chart observes:
The Council say that the property will go to a family in need.
Which family? er - um - of course (lightbulb moment) - the same woman and her family !!
For surely - being in prison - she will on release be in need !
Khan is bringing London to its knees, a law all to himself no one in charge of him destroying peoples lives.
Families moving out of London including 50’000, Children last year alone.
No surprise with so many Regulations just add his ULEZ £12.50 per day Families can’t afford it or bring their kids to School, its well time for Public go to wake up to him and his ridiculously mess.
OK just say 12.50 pd x 30 = £375.00 per month extra and it will be that with going to work, School trips, Shopping etc.
What about cost of living hike, Mortgage & rent costs through
the roof and he wants all this on top every month for nothing he ignored the Consultation results.
He has already brought London to a stand still by blocking off roads forcing traffic on to roads that’s already full, no through areas stupid bits of bus lanes for freedom passes again doubling traffic but now people are voting with their feet.
This case is the barest tip of a huge iceberg. Thousands and thousands of people are fleecing the social security and housing benefits through illegal means. A vast majority will never work in their lives, and taxpayers are paying for them.....No wonder taxes are rising and long term unemployed are rising:(( So the question arises, as some have pointed out, why are councils not rooting out these scams....and the reason may be that councils are either incompetent, careless, corrupt or all three:(
All three and as long as they get paid a wage they genuinely do not give a flying f… about anyone else. If I am wrong then please let me know why it takes six weeks to have an email answered
Please login to comment