A social housing tenant who illegally sublet a property in Hackney for a decade while living in another landlord’s home has been ordered to pay £110,000.
Sovereign Network Group (SNG) secured the unlawful profit order, along with costs and interest, at Central London County Court, after an investigation found that the tenant had rented out the property for a decade from 2012 to 2022.
Suspicions were raised when an officer visiting the property in the London Borough of Hackney spotted locks on the bedroom doors, and the occupants told him he would need to contact the “landlady” to gain access to them. Further investigations found that the official tenant was living in accommodation provided by another social housing provider and had advertised the rooms on multiple digital letting platforms.
Unlawful profit orders, introduced under the Prevention of Social Housing Fraud Act 2013, allow social landlords to recover illegal financial gains made through subletting. SNG said the property has now been returned for use as an affordable family home, while its debt recovery team will seek to enforce the order against the former tenant.
Charles Culling, head of specialist housing at SNG, said the outcome means the property can be used for its intended purpose, as a family home for those in need of affordable housing. He said SNG is committing additional resources to investigating tenancy fraud, and that offenders can be assured that when subletting is identified, the association will pursue court action.
The case comes amid considerable pressure on social housing in Hackney, where around 8,500 households are on the housing register and more than 3,300 are living in temporary accommodation. Every home lost to unlawful subletting is a home that cannot go to a family on that list — which is why landlords pursue these orders even years after the subletting ended.
It is not the first substantial unlawful profit order secured by SNG. In February 2024, the association obtained an order worth £136,000 plus costs against another tenant who had sublet a three-bedroom social home while living elsewhere.
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