A housing association tenant in Cornwall has been ordered to pay over £1,500 after pleading guilty to illegally subletting her council house when she moved out of the property.
60-year-old Carol Ann Broaders sublet her council house without advising her landlord, Cornwall Housing Limited, and first obtaining the necessary permission.
The court heard that she knowingly ignored her tenancy agreement and breached its terms, which is why she was found guilty of one count of tenancy fraud under the Prevention of Social Housing Fraud Act legislation.
Mrs Broaders was served with a £300 fine and was ordered to cover all of Cornwall Council’s legal costs incurred through the case, which amounted to £1,200, as well as a £30 victim surcharge.
Joyce Duffin, Cornwall Council’s cabinet member for housing and environment, said: “It costs on average £18,000 a year to house a family in temporary accommodation.
“There is huge pressure on the supply of social housing making it imperative that the housing we do have available goes to people in genuine need of help. It’s totally wrong for people not to be living in housing intended for them and to be potentially illegally profiting from it at the same time.”
A growing number of councils are ensuring that tenancy fraud is dealt with, and anyone who is illegally subletting or has left their council home and not updated their housing association and local authority is being advised to hand in their keys immediately, to avoid any legal action.