Camden council has become one of the first local authorities in London to prosecute a tenant for subletting via an estate agent.
The council said the case “is significant from a legal standpoint, because the Fraud Act has been used solely on the grounds of subletting, which is something new”.
While the incident involves one tenant and one estate agent, the council believes it could prompt estate agents to be more scrupulous in investigating customers. Much larger fraud cases could come under the spotlight.
Councillor Julian Fulbrook, Camden’s member for housing, said: “At a time when we are facing severe funding cuts and a long council homes waiting list, I hope this sends a warning that illegal subletting will not be tolerated by Camden.”
Oladapo Talabi was charged on two counts of fraud on 1 September following an investigation by Camden’s housing team. In September 2010, he rented out his property for six months for the sum of £780 per calendar month. The person who rented the property paid £5,586 to the estate agent who was handling the letting on Talabi’s behalf. From this amount, Talabi received a lump sum of £4,000.
At Highbury magistrates’ court, Talabi was sentenced to a community order of 12 months, comprising 100 hours of unpaid work.
joanna.bourke@estatesgazette.com
