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London council recovers home after four-year legal battle
Hillingdon Council has taken back control of a three-bedroom council house after a lengthy legal battle with the resident, who had been accused of fraud.
Uxbridge County Court heard how the resident, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had presented to the council as homeless, along with her four children, in 2002 using a stolen identity.
She was offered temporary accommodation, then placed on the council’s waiting list, where she later made a successful bid for a three-bedroom property in Uxbridge in August 2003.
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Following this successful bid, Hillingdon Council’s housing team was made aware that the resident was under investigation by the authority’s counter-fraud team for deception in 2018.
As a result, the fraud team brought criminal proceedings against the resident and her husband.
In 2019, she was charged with, and later admitted, claiming social security benefits that she was not entitled to, which totalled more than £234,000.
She 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 tenants refused to give it back and a four-year legal wrangle ensued, which resulted in their eviction on 19 April this year.
Martin Goddard, cabinet member for finance at Hillingdon Council, said: “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.”
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