0:00:04 > 0:00:05I'm Michelle Ackerley.
0:00:05 > 0:00:08My parents both grew up on Council Estates, and as a family,
0:00:08 > 0:00:12we understand the difference social housing can make to people's lives.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18But across the UK there's a chronic shortage of
0:00:18 > 0:00:20Council and Housing Association homes.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24I know so many friends, and so many people that just...
0:00:24 > 0:00:26literally don't have anywhere to live.
0:00:26 > 0:00:30Adding to the crisis, some tenants are abusing the system,
0:00:30 > 0:00:34holding on to properties they no longer need, or even worse,
0:00:34 > 0:00:38unlawfully sub letting them, and coining in a small fortune.
0:00:38 > 0:00:41Sub letting social housing is wrong. It's wrong.
0:00:41 > 0:00:43It's illegal, and it's wrong.
0:00:43 > 0:00:45So every day we'll be with the
0:00:45 > 0:00:49housing investigators as they crack down on those rogue tenants.
0:00:49 > 0:00:50You haven't got a Bailiff!
0:00:50 > 0:00:51DRILLING
0:00:51 > 0:00:53Reclaim properties...
0:00:53 > 0:00:55Anybody in?...
0:00:55 > 0:00:57And give them to families in genuine need.
0:00:57 > 0:00:59All of those keys are yours?
0:01:01 > 0:01:04Oh, don't! Cos you'll start me off again.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07This is Council House Crackdown.
0:01:07 > 0:01:10Our reporter, property expert, Luke Doonan
0:01:10 > 0:01:13also grew up on a Council Estate,
0:01:13 > 0:01:14and for the last six months,
0:01:14 > 0:01:18he's been working alongside dedicated housing investigators
0:01:18 > 0:01:20who will stop at nothing to track down every
0:01:20 > 0:01:23single tenant who's abusing the system.
0:01:24 > 0:01:27Today, a fraudster who claimed she and her children were
0:01:27 > 0:01:30homeless to get this council house,
0:01:30 > 0:01:34is sentenced after being caught renting out her two private homes.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37She's got this property that she's renting out at £400 a month,
0:01:37 > 0:01:39and that money's going straight into her pocket...
0:01:39 > 0:01:43The married man, who said he was single just so he could keep
0:01:43 > 0:01:45his council flat, and then let his teenage son
0:01:45 > 0:01:47and friends run riot in it.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50And he was actually renting out this property to young people.
0:01:50 > 0:01:52The address was nothing more than a dosshouse.
0:01:52 > 0:01:55And the prisoner from East London who's been coining it
0:01:55 > 0:01:59sub letting his social housing property, while still behind bars.
0:01:59 > 0:02:03That is the bank account statement showing that the money was
0:02:03 > 0:02:05going into that account.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30The vast majority of those on social housing are law abiding,
0:02:30 > 0:02:33responsible people, but there are some who use their council or
0:02:33 > 0:02:37housing association property as a passport to making money.
0:02:39 > 0:02:42Our first case involves a fraudster who claimed she
0:02:42 > 0:02:45and her children were homeless in order to get a council
0:02:45 > 0:02:49house in Solihull, while all the while, owning not one,
0:02:49 > 0:02:52but two private properties in neighbouring Birmingham.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57Luke's meeting Solihull Council senior auditor,
0:02:57 > 0:03:00Sean Turley who is the lead investigator on the case.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04Solihull council runs a fraud hotline,
0:03:04 > 0:03:06and that's how they first heard about Dawn Hipkiss.
0:03:08 > 0:03:12The perpetrator of Sean's biggest ever tenancy fraud case.
0:03:12 > 0:03:16It's some audacity on her part.
0:03:16 > 0:03:20In 2010, Miss Hipkiss contacted Solihull council saying she
0:03:20 > 0:03:24and her two children were about to become homeless.
0:03:24 > 0:03:29She completed a homeless application form with ourselves.
0:03:29 > 0:03:32She applied with her two young children,
0:03:32 > 0:03:34and so we allocated her a property.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38- I guess she's going to go to the top of the queue?- Yeah, most definitely.
0:03:38 > 0:03:42The council acted quickly and housed her here,
0:03:42 > 0:03:45in this substantial three bedroom home, on the outskirts
0:03:45 > 0:03:51of Solihull. But in 2014, Sean's team received an anonymous call.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55We had a really good tip-off from a member of the public -
0:03:55 > 0:04:00They're phoning to our hotline - provided a number of details to us,
0:04:00 > 0:04:04stating that our tenant Dawn Hipkiss actually owned
0:04:04 > 0:04:09- a property in Birmingham...- Right. - ..that she was renting out.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12Sean immediately started an investigation.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15In order to be eligible for council accommodation, it's a
0:04:15 > 0:04:17condition that you cannot own another property.
0:04:17 > 0:04:21So Sean contacted a colleague in Birmingham City Council.
0:04:21 > 0:04:22We approached Birmingham to try
0:04:22 > 0:04:26and substantiate the information that the hotline caller had
0:04:26 > 0:04:29provided us with, and found out that she'd actually purchased
0:04:29 > 0:04:33a property from Birmingham Council through the Right To Buy scheme.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37It was this three bedroomed house,
0:04:37 > 0:04:42and she'd bought this property in 2005, a full five years before she
0:04:42 > 0:04:46told Solihull she needed a council house because she was homeless.
0:04:47 > 0:04:48She was eligible to buy it
0:04:48 > 0:04:51because she's been living in it as a council tenant.
0:04:51 > 0:04:56She'd been a tenant with Birmingham for about five or six years, so she
0:04:56 > 0:05:00was entitled to the full discount on purchasing that property.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03The property she bought in Birmingham was valued at £70,000.
0:05:03 > 0:05:05That's correct, yeah.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09- She received a 35% discount, of £24,500.- That's right, yeah.
0:05:09 > 0:05:13So she ended up buying the property off Birmingham Council for £45,500.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16- That's correct.- That's some discount, isn't it?- Yeah.
0:05:16 > 0:05:18As Sean dug deeper,
0:05:18 > 0:05:21he discovered that Miss Hipkiss was letting this property in Birmingham.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24A fact that came to light because she was renting to housing
0:05:24 > 0:05:28benefit claimants, and Birmingham Council had their records.
0:05:28 > 0:05:30She's got this property that she's renting out.
0:05:30 > 0:05:35Around £400 a month, is what she's charging the tenants
0:05:35 > 0:05:38and that money's going straight into her pocket.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41A land registry search confirmed that Miss Hipkiss is the sole
0:05:41 > 0:05:44proprietor of the Birmingham address.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47It was enough to bring her in for formal questioning.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50She turned up on the first occasion with her solicitor.
0:05:50 > 0:05:52We'd got an interview under caution planned,
0:05:52 > 0:05:55a number of questions, possible defences that she could come
0:05:55 > 0:05:59up with, a number of questions we wanted to ask her.
0:05:59 > 0:06:03And she "no commented" throughout the interview
0:06:03 > 0:06:06refused to answer any questions.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11With Dawn Hipkiss giving investigators the silent treatment,
0:06:11 > 0:06:16further investigations got underway, and they revealed a bigger surprise.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19The next step was to get her bank statements,
0:06:19 > 0:06:23to show that she was receiving a rental income for that property,
0:06:23 > 0:06:29and lo and behold, that showed that she'd got this monthly rental
0:06:29 > 0:06:32- income coming in for the property that we knew of in Birmingham. - Right.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36But not only that property, another property that she was renting out.
0:06:36 > 0:06:40- No! Really? So she owns a second property?- That's right, yeah.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43She'd used the proceeds from the first one to then
0:06:43 > 0:06:47finance the purchasing of the second property.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49So Miss Hipkiss was raking in rent money from two
0:06:49 > 0:06:52- properties in Birmingham. - Her income is £800-900
0:06:52 > 0:06:57- a month in rent from those two properties.- Yep, yeah.
0:06:57 > 0:06:59It turned out Dawn Hipkiss bought this house,
0:06:59 > 0:07:03her second Birmingham property in 2007.
0:07:03 > 0:07:07So when she claimed to be homeless, she in fact owned two houses.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12- Absolutely disgusting behaviour on every single level.- Yep, yeah.
0:07:13 > 0:07:17Miss Hipkiss seemed to be building a property portfolio,
0:07:17 > 0:07:20owning and renting out two houses in Birmingham,
0:07:20 > 0:07:25while living in her council house in Solihull. But, there was more.
0:07:25 > 0:07:29On being allocated the property in Solihull, she actually put in a
0:07:29 > 0:07:31benefit application to the Council,
0:07:31 > 0:07:36so she was paid full housing benefit against the rent that she
0:07:36 > 0:07:39- should have been paying for that property.- Really?
0:07:39 > 0:07:41And full Council Tax benefits,
0:07:41 > 0:07:43so she wasn't paying any Council Tax either.
0:07:43 > 0:07:45Don't know what to say to that.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48She completed a benefit application here,
0:07:48 > 0:07:55and again on this form it asks for the applicants circumstances.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57All details are provided, questions are asked.
0:07:57 > 0:08:02"Do you own any other property?" And she has ticked "No."
0:08:05 > 0:08:06The evidence was damning.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10Sean and his team served a Notice to Quit ,and in September 2015,
0:08:10 > 0:08:14Dawn Hipkiss was evicted from her council home here in Solihull.
0:08:16 > 0:08:21It was the beginning of the end for Miss Hipkiss' property empire.
0:08:21 > 0:08:24She stopped paying the mortgages on her houses in Birmingham,
0:08:24 > 0:08:25and they were repossessed by the banks.
0:08:27 > 0:08:31Dawn Hipkiss was prosecuted for two counts of fraud at Birmingham
0:08:31 > 0:08:35crown court in November last year, and was given a six-month prison
0:08:35 > 0:08:39sentence, suspended for 12 months, AND a 12-month supervision order.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44The council is currently awaiting a hearing in the civil courts
0:08:44 > 0:08:48to reclaim the proceeds Miss Hipkiss made from her crimes.
0:08:52 > 0:08:56Meanwhile, the Solihull council house has been re-let.
0:08:56 > 0:09:01- This is the house here, this three bed semi-detached.- Wow.
0:09:01 > 0:09:05- It's pretty impressive, isn't it? - Very nice house, very nice area.
0:09:05 > 0:09:09What's the situation with the tenancy of the house at the moment?
0:09:09 > 0:09:14We've got a single parent family living in the property
0:09:14 > 0:09:17and they're very happy in there. They moved in just before Christmas.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20- Congratulations on getting the property back.- Thank you.
0:09:27 > 0:09:30The fraud in housing is just unbelievable.
0:09:30 > 0:09:32It's reached such high levels now.
0:09:32 > 0:09:34People see renting out their own council house
0:09:34 > 0:09:37as a way of making money. How wicked is that?
0:09:37 > 0:09:40One, they should evict them, two, they should not house them
0:09:40 > 0:09:42at all, three, they should make them homeless.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44Take it off them, without a doubt,
0:09:44 > 0:09:47because they've profited long enough, and at the end of the day,
0:09:47 > 0:09:50this is probably, I would say, is one of the largest
0:09:50 > 0:09:53contributing factors to the problem that we have today.
0:09:53 > 0:09:55I think the Government should send all those officers that
0:09:55 > 0:10:00work in the councils to go out and find those people, prosecute them
0:10:00 > 0:10:05for doing such things, and charge this exorbitant amount of rent.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08They should give back all those rents that they paid for...
0:10:08 > 0:10:11That they charged those people, and to get back that money.
0:10:20 > 0:10:22As a deterrent, the social housing
0:10:22 > 0:10:24fraud act of 2013 allows councils to
0:10:24 > 0:10:26seek tough penalties against those
0:10:26 > 0:10:28who knowingly deceive the system.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33If convicted, tenants can be punished with up to...
0:10:44 > 0:10:47In February 2008, a man obtained
0:10:47 > 0:10:51a flat from Milton Keynes Council after claiming to be homeless.
0:10:51 > 0:10:55In reality, he had an existing social tenancy with a housing
0:10:55 > 0:10:58association in another area, which he
0:10:58 > 0:11:01deliberately concealed during his application.
0:11:01 > 0:11:05In 2014, he was sentenced to 11 weeks custody,
0:11:05 > 0:11:10suspended for 12 months, 150 hours of community service,
0:11:10 > 0:11:13and ordered to pay costs of £1,362
0:11:13 > 0:11:16to Milton Keynes Council.
0:11:23 > 0:11:25Here in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire,
0:11:25 > 0:11:30there are 2.5 thousand families waiting for social housing.
0:11:30 > 0:11:32So the last thing that housing officers want is someone to
0:11:32 > 0:11:34be using more than one home
0:11:34 > 0:11:37and that is exactly what was happening in our next case.
0:11:39 > 0:11:43This is a story of one man's selfish use of a 2-bed housing
0:11:43 > 0:11:46association flat, letting his 16-year-old son
0:11:46 > 0:11:49and his friends stay there while all the time living
0:11:49 > 0:11:53with his wife in another social property elsewhere.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55Not only that, but the man in question denied
0:11:55 > 0:11:59he was married in order to get the flat in the first place.
0:12:01 > 0:12:02In December 2012,
0:12:02 > 0:12:07a 44-year-old man moved into this two bedroom flat in Aylesbury.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10He claimed he was a single parent living with his teenage son,
0:12:10 > 0:12:15but by January last year, neighbours were complaining about noise
0:12:15 > 0:12:18and anti-social behaviour coming from the flat.
0:12:18 > 0:12:22Vale of Aylesbury housing trust investigator
0:12:22 > 0:12:24Craig was put on the case.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27The initial report related to noise nuisance
0:12:27 > 0:12:29and for young people using that property.
0:12:29 > 0:12:33We didn't really know for what purpose.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36Craig asked the neighbour who'd complained to keep a diary
0:12:36 > 0:12:38detailing any disturbances.
0:12:38 > 0:12:40So this is a diary sheet.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44We encourage complainants to fill out these forms as and
0:12:44 > 0:12:48when an incident would occur. Date, time, what occurred.
0:12:48 > 0:12:50Now these forms become legal documents, so it's very
0:12:50 > 0:12:53important that they get as much detail in there are possible.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56The noise coming from the flat suggested it was being
0:12:56 > 0:13:00used by a group of young people for socialising and late night parties.
0:13:00 > 0:13:04The diary sheets were very detailed and I could see that she was
0:13:04 > 0:13:05referring to a group of young people.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08The report consisted of late night parties,
0:13:08 > 0:13:11a high level of pedestrian traffic.
0:13:11 > 0:13:13When Craig checked housing association records,
0:13:13 > 0:13:17he discovered that the lawful tenant was a 44-year-old divorcee
0:13:17 > 0:13:18who had a 16-year-old son.
0:13:18 > 0:13:23Having carried out tenancy checks, I could be sure that there was a young
0:13:23 > 0:13:26boy living there at some point with the dad, who was the lawful tenant.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29The young boy, to our knowledge, he shouldn't have been living there,
0:13:29 > 0:13:32he was living with Mum at another address, but, as families
0:13:32 > 0:13:35do, they move around a little bit, and in all likelihood
0:13:35 > 0:13:37it was probably the son that was living there.
0:13:38 > 0:13:41Social media is often a valuable source of information
0:13:41 > 0:13:45for housing investigators, and so it proved in this case.
0:13:45 > 0:13:49Craig found a Facebook account for both the father and his son.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52The information on the account led Craig to suspect that the son
0:13:52 > 0:13:57was living at the flat, but that his father, the tenant, had moved out.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00If this was the case, it would be a breach of tenancy,
0:14:00 > 0:14:03and would be classed as unlawful sub letting.
0:14:03 > 0:14:07I went on to Facebook, I found Dad, I found the son, I could come to the
0:14:07 > 0:14:11assumption quite easily that the son was actually living at that address.
0:14:11 > 0:14:13Individuals tend to use social media quite a lot,
0:14:13 > 0:14:16and tell the world what it is they're up to on a daily basis,
0:14:16 > 0:14:20and if perpetrators are silly enough to use social media,
0:14:20 > 0:14:23then I'm going to be the one monitoring them.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27Thanks to the Social Housing Fraud Act of 2013,
0:14:27 > 0:14:30Craig was also able to look at his tenants financial records.
0:14:30 > 0:14:33Some of the information that I could find out, is,
0:14:33 > 0:14:36information relating to bank accounts, whether or not
0:14:36 > 0:14:39they have any loan agreements, made any applications for a loan...
0:14:39 > 0:14:43These financial checks provided another vital lead.
0:14:43 > 0:14:45The official tenant had recently made a joint
0:14:45 > 0:14:47application for a bank loan.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50The second name on the application was that of a woman,
0:14:50 > 0:14:54which suggested to Craig that the tenant may be in a relationship.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57The female I hadn't heard of before, but I suspect that the female
0:14:57 > 0:14:59was a partner, or maybe even ex-partner,
0:14:59 > 0:15:01but I needed to find out who she was.
0:15:02 > 0:15:04Craig decided to follow his hunch
0:15:04 > 0:15:08and check the tenants name against marriage records.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11I then applied for a marriage certificate, not knowing that he would be married,
0:15:11 > 0:15:14but I wanted to see whether there was one that existed,
0:15:14 > 0:15:16and I received a marriage certificate
0:15:16 > 0:15:18and it came up with the same name that was on the application
0:15:18 > 0:15:20that he'd made for a loan.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25Craig had uncovered the truth about his tenant.
0:15:25 > 0:15:30He wasn't single at all, but had in fact got married in August 2012,
0:15:30 > 0:15:33shortly before he took over the tenancy at the flat.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58In this case, the tenant had lied about being single,
0:15:58 > 0:15:59when in fact, he was married.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04We're just wondering why he's not told us that he's married,
0:16:04 > 0:16:08when it's quite clear that he is. We feel that he's hiding something.
0:16:08 > 0:16:12I want to know a bit more about the wife, who she is, are they
0:16:12 > 0:16:15still together? And where does she live? Is she local?
0:16:16 > 0:16:19Craig started to go through Council Tax records
0:16:19 > 0:16:22and discovered the tenant's new wife also had a social housing
0:16:22 > 0:16:24property just four miles away.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27I managed to find out who she is through Council Tax.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31I did a check with the local authority and she is paying Council
0:16:31 > 0:16:35Tax and registered at another house in Aylesbury with her children.
0:16:37 > 0:16:38So it looked as if between them,
0:16:38 > 0:16:43this married couple had not one but two housing association properties.
0:16:43 > 0:16:47Then Craig looked again at their marriage certificate and noticed
0:16:47 > 0:16:51that on the certificate, they'd both provided yet another address.
0:16:51 > 0:16:55This time in Milton Keynes. And when Craig checked this address,
0:16:55 > 0:16:58he discovered that it too was a social housing property.
0:16:58 > 0:17:02Another point of the certificate is the address in Milton Keynes,
0:17:02 > 0:17:03which they are connected to.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06So I wanted to find out through Milton Keynes "What address is that?
0:17:06 > 0:17:09"Is it a private dwelling? Do they own that property?"
0:17:09 > 0:17:12I actually found out through Milton Keynes council that it's actually
0:17:12 > 0:17:16a local authority property and he's still registered to living there.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19What had started out as a routine noise complaint had now
0:17:19 > 0:17:22become an investigation into a tenant with links to three
0:17:22 > 0:17:24social housing properties.
0:17:24 > 0:17:25It indicated to me that the
0:17:25 > 0:17:29tenant actually had access to three social housing properties,
0:17:29 > 0:17:32one of which is in Milton Keynes, and then two more in Aylesbury.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35One of which is a property that he's living at with his family,
0:17:35 > 0:17:38the other one is the address which he should be living at,
0:17:38 > 0:17:41which we suspect his son is living in at the moment.
0:17:41 > 0:17:44Later, we find out what happened when the police were called to help
0:17:44 > 0:17:49clear the flat, that should've been home to a single parent and his son.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52He was actually renting out this property to young people
0:17:52 > 0:17:54aged between 15 and 17 years old.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57The address was nothing more than a dosshouse.
0:17:59 > 0:18:01I'm very grateful for social housing, I've been,
0:18:01 > 0:18:03since I was 16...
0:18:03 > 0:18:07I went to go apply for housing and was helped in various ways.
0:18:07 > 0:18:08And if it wasn't for that,
0:18:08 > 0:18:11I wouldn't be living near my family, or able to do what
0:18:11 > 0:18:14I do for a living, which is... I'm a mini-cab driver.
0:18:14 > 0:18:15I have friends who've been on waiting
0:18:15 > 0:18:18lists for housing for more than eight years,
0:18:18 > 0:18:22and I don't see that they have any other option but to wait.
0:18:22 > 0:18:23It's quite distressing.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26We've been waiting now for the past three years now.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29For waiting to be moved, cos the house where we are is too small.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32Yeah, and it's...
0:18:32 > 0:18:34There is seven of us in the family, right,
0:18:34 > 0:18:38and then we've got to live in a three bedroom house.
0:18:38 > 0:18:39It's not really fair.
0:19:00 > 0:19:04The Government also expects councils to give priority to former
0:19:04 > 0:19:08prisoners, because it's been shown that ex-offenders are 20% less
0:19:08 > 0:19:12likely to re-offend if they have stable accommodation.
0:19:12 > 0:19:14But councils can decide for themselves which groups to
0:19:14 > 0:19:16give priority to in their area.
0:19:25 > 0:19:27With its vibrant mix of people,
0:19:27 > 0:19:29and the Olympic Park and Canary Wharf on its doorstep,
0:19:29 > 0:19:32it's no surprise that there are people queuing up to
0:19:32 > 0:19:35live in the East London borough of Tower Hamlets.
0:19:35 > 0:19:38MUSIC: London Calling by The Clash
0:19:38 > 0:19:42You'd have to be incredibly lucky to get a social housing flat like this here though.
0:19:42 > 0:19:46There are currently around 20,000 people on the waiting list.
0:19:48 > 0:19:50But one tenant who lived here threw it all away,
0:19:50 > 0:19:53by renting out his flat while he was in prison.
0:19:57 > 0:19:59Luke's meeting up with Avril Drummond.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02Avril is Counter Fraud Investigator for the Housing Association,
0:20:02 > 0:20:05- Poplar Harca.- Hi Avril.- Hello. - How are you?- Very well, thank you.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09Standing here, a lot of people looking at this block, you wouldn't even think it was
0:20:09 > 0:20:12a social housing block. It's actually quite stunning, isn't it?
0:20:12 > 0:20:15It's very nice, it's a new build, they're very nice properties.
0:20:15 > 0:20:17- Lovely views, very close to Canary Wharf.- Yeah.
0:20:17 > 0:20:21Close to the city, good transport links, so, it's an ideal property.
0:20:23 > 0:20:28The lucky tenant who did move in in 2012 was a former prisoner,
0:20:28 > 0:20:31but 18 months later, he was back in prison and trying to make
0:20:31 > 0:20:36a profit by illegally renting his flat out while he was behind bars.
0:20:36 > 0:20:40How in demand are one-bedroom flats like this for people who're on the waiting list?
0:20:40 > 0:20:44We've got thousands of people on the waiting list in this borough.
0:20:44 > 0:20:4820,000 people on the list, but for one-bedroom properties,
0:20:48 > 0:20:50I'd say up to about 9... 10,000 people.
0:20:52 > 0:20:54After only three months in her new
0:20:54 > 0:20:57job at the Housing Association, Avril was contacted
0:20:57 > 0:21:00by a neighbour who said they thought the flat was being sub let.
0:21:00 > 0:21:04So Avril started making enquiries.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07We received a tip-off from a neighbour that the property
0:21:07 > 0:21:11was being sublet by the lawful tenant, so started investigating.
0:21:12 > 0:21:15At first, it seemed like the neighbour might have been mistaken.
0:21:15 > 0:21:20I carried out some initial checks, and the lawful tenant,
0:21:20 > 0:21:24to all intents and purposes, looked like he was living in the property.
0:21:24 > 0:21:25He was on the electoral roll,
0:21:25 > 0:21:29all his financial details linked him to the property.
0:21:29 > 0:21:33But Avril is nothing if not thorough, and went back further.
0:21:33 > 0:21:37She discovered that there had been allegations of subletting before.
0:21:37 > 0:21:40I also looked back through the history of the tenancy.
0:21:40 > 0:21:42There had been previous allegations,
0:21:42 > 0:21:46and quite a lot of evidence that the property had been previously sublet.
0:21:46 > 0:21:50The records show that the official tenant had contacted
0:21:50 > 0:21:53the Housing Association two years earlier, to tell them
0:21:53 > 0:21:55he was going back to prison,
0:21:55 > 0:21:58and asking if his father could look after the flat while he was inside.
0:21:59 > 0:22:01The Housing Association had agreed.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04But then Avril found a statement that suggested the flat had
0:22:04 > 0:22:06been sublet while the tenant was in prison.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10There was an agreement that his father would look after
0:22:10 > 0:22:12the property for him, but the father had sublet it.
0:22:12 > 0:22:15The tenant denied he had knowledge of it
0:22:15 > 0:22:18because obviously he was serving time.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21- We've got a witness statement from the sub-tenant...- OK.
0:22:21 > 0:22:27..and it actually shows that he was paying rent of £800 a month.
0:22:27 > 0:22:32He was giving the rent money to the lawful tenant's girlfriend.
0:22:32 > 0:22:37Here it says payment would be made to - "the following day
0:22:37 > 0:22:39"we met her at a venue in Shepherd's Bush, we did not
0:22:39 > 0:22:45"have £1,600 so gave her £800 in cash and left a passport as security.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48"A couple of days later, we met up with the young lady at this
0:22:48 > 0:22:51"time at her business premises in E1.
0:22:51 > 0:22:54"We signed an agreement and were given keys to the flat."
0:22:54 > 0:22:57It's a very evidential witness statement, isn't it?
0:22:57 > 0:22:59It's very, it's very clear. It's very black and white.
0:22:59 > 0:23:03Just, the way the girlfriend is meeting them - she's taking
0:23:03 > 0:23:04- someone's passport as security. - Mm hm.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07It's almost like they're running it as a - well,
0:23:07 > 0:23:09they are running it as a business, aren't they, really?
0:23:09 > 0:23:11Well, they were at the time, yes.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14That is the receipt here, on the bank account statement,
0:23:14 > 0:23:17showing that the money was going into that account.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20- Oh, that's pretty clear, isn't it? - That's the tenant's name.
0:23:20 > 0:23:23- The tenant's account.- So he was actually in prison and then...- Yeah.
0:23:23 > 0:23:25- You can see money going into his account.- Yeah.
0:23:25 > 0:23:28So he can't deny knowledge, he must have known why suddenly large
0:23:28 > 0:23:32sums of money were being paid into his account.
0:23:32 > 0:23:34So it was clear the official tenant had
0:23:34 > 0:23:37a history of subletting his flat and pocketing the profits.
0:23:38 > 0:23:42It wasn't investigated at the time, because before the
0:23:42 > 0:23:452013 Prevention of Housing Fraud Act, most housing associations
0:23:45 > 0:23:48didn't have a dedicated investigations team.
0:23:48 > 0:23:50Poplar Harca was no exception.
0:23:52 > 0:23:56By this stage, the prisoner was due to be released from jail, so Avril's
0:23:56 > 0:23:59next step was to go to the flat to see if he was back living there.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02And if he wasn't, then to find out who was.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05We decided to conduct an early morning visit.
0:24:05 > 0:24:07Took me about a month before finally,
0:24:07 > 0:24:12around about July we actually found someone in the property.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15But it wasn't Avril's official tenant, the ex-prisoner.
0:24:15 > 0:24:17It was someone she hadn't seen before,
0:24:17 > 0:24:19who claimed he had a right to be there.
0:24:20 > 0:24:23It wasn't our lawful tenant.
0:24:23 > 0:24:27He invited us in, he said he had a tenancy agreement with out tenant.
0:24:27 > 0:24:28Oh, dear.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31The man who let Avril in said he'd been living at the flat with
0:24:31 > 0:24:35his girlfriend for a year, although she'd now moved on somewhere else.
0:24:36 > 0:24:38He was actually linked, financially, to the
0:24:38 > 0:24:41property as was his, you know, girlfriend.
0:24:41 > 0:24:45- They'd been registered there for nearly a year.- Right.
0:24:45 > 0:24:47And although he couldn't find me a tenancy agreement
0:24:47 > 0:24:51at the time, he was pretty co-operative, and gave us
0:24:51 > 0:24:55as much detail and information as we could get at that time.
0:24:55 > 0:24:57Sure.
0:24:57 > 0:25:00It turned out the ex-prisoner had been charging the couple more than
0:25:00 > 0:25:04double the amount he was paying the Housing Association for the flat.
0:25:04 > 0:25:06And he'd even put the rent up
0:25:06 > 0:25:09since the last time he'd unlawfully sublet it.
0:25:09 > 0:25:13Social housing rent was roughly about £500 a month.
0:25:13 > 0:25:16The sub-tenant did say that he paid him £1,100 a month.
0:25:16 > 0:25:19Right, so he's still making £600 a month.
0:25:19 > 0:25:22They're still making quite a fair amount of profit, yeah.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25After Avril's chat with the man living in the apartment,
0:25:25 > 0:25:28it wasn't long before the official tenant was on the phone,
0:25:28 > 0:25:30trying to explain himself.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33The next day, I got contacted by our lawful tenant saying that it
0:25:33 > 0:25:36had all been a misunderstanding, and it was a lodger's agreement,
0:25:36 > 0:25:38he hadn't had a tenancy agreement.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01Avril wasn't convinced by the tenant's claim that he'd
0:26:01 > 0:26:03taken in a lodger.
0:26:03 > 0:26:06He did bring in this lodger's agreement that looked like it
0:26:06 > 0:26:09had been doctored with dates and amounts of rent changed.
0:26:09 > 0:26:13And she wasn't convinced that the tenant was still living there.
0:26:13 > 0:26:17He also said that he had not sublet the whole of the property,
0:26:17 > 0:26:19but it's only a one bedroom flat,
0:26:19 > 0:26:23so he then said he was sleeping on the settee, which I find it very
0:26:23 > 0:26:26- difficult to believe that someone would sublet...- Yeah.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29..or allow the bedroom to be used by a couple,
0:26:29 > 0:26:32- and then you're gonna be sleeping on the settee.- Mm hm.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35- Though I'll always, you know, listen to people...- Mm hm.
0:26:35 > 0:26:37..but with the weight of evidence that we had
0:26:37 > 0:26:39I didn't believe what he was telling us.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42The Housing Association's priority was to evict the tenant
0:26:42 > 0:26:46and get the flat back as soon as possible.
0:26:46 > 0:26:48He had no leg to stand on, legally,
0:26:48 > 0:26:51- he had no defence with his case.- Mm hm.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54And because he's got away with it for so long,
0:26:54 > 0:26:57he maybe thought that he would continue to get away with it
0:26:57 > 0:27:01- and he'd be able to pull the wool over the court's eyes as well.- Yeah.
0:27:01 > 0:27:03I've actually got the order for possession.
0:27:03 > 0:27:07- £900 of rent arrears, plus our costs, as well.- Right.
0:27:07 > 0:27:09Just over £1,300 he'll have to pay back.
0:27:09 > 0:27:14- It can be a very long process but to get that is worthwhile.- Yeah.
0:27:14 > 0:27:16- On every single occasion. - Indeed.
0:27:16 > 0:27:18With an order from the court for immediate
0:27:18 > 0:27:22possession of the property, this desirable flat will soon be in
0:27:22 > 0:27:25use by one of the 20,000 households on the local waiting list.
0:27:31 > 0:27:33I don't agree with people that are illegally
0:27:33 > 0:27:35subletting their council properties.
0:27:35 > 0:27:39Um, again I just think it's - I mean, I'm a taxpayer,
0:27:39 > 0:27:44and I think that that's wrong, and that it affects all of us,
0:27:44 > 0:27:47working hard, paying into the system
0:27:47 > 0:27:50and then there's other people that are abusing the system.
0:27:50 > 0:27:52I think something should be done about the profit being made.
0:27:52 > 0:27:56I mean, if people are gaining from illegally renting out social
0:27:56 > 0:27:59housing and taking away from those that need it then yeah,
0:27:59 > 0:28:01they should probably be held accountable for that.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04It's fraud and they've forfeited their right to,
0:28:04 > 0:28:06to, um, have that tenancy.
0:28:06 > 0:28:09You know, that's what I believe, anyway.
0:28:15 > 0:28:19..after Southwark Council Housing officers visited his home.
0:28:19 > 0:28:20Checks revealed...
0:28:44 > 0:28:48Earlier, we heard how one tenant was claiming to be a single parent,
0:28:48 > 0:28:52living with his teenage son in a two bed Housing Association flat.
0:28:52 > 0:28:55While in reality, he was actually married
0:28:55 > 0:28:58and had links with two other social housing properties.
0:28:58 > 0:29:01The tenant actually had access to three social housing properties,
0:29:01 > 0:29:05one of which is in Milton Keynes. And then two more in Aylesbury.
0:29:05 > 0:29:07To try and find out what was going on,
0:29:07 > 0:29:10and where their tenant was actually living, Vale of
0:29:10 > 0:29:14Aylesbury Housing Trust investigator Craig asked for police assistance.
0:29:14 > 0:29:17I sent a quick request to the police,
0:29:17 > 0:29:20and asked for the neighbourhood policing team just to carry out some
0:29:20 > 0:29:23general patrols around the area throughout the evening
0:29:23 > 0:29:26when in all likelihood the tenant would probably be asleep.
0:29:26 > 0:29:28Now if it were to turn out that the car was
0:29:28 > 0:29:32parked at the address of the wife then it would lead us
0:29:32 > 0:29:35to assume that he's been staying at that address.
0:29:37 > 0:29:39If that was the case, and the tenant was no longer
0:29:39 > 0:29:43living at his two bedroom flat, he would be in breach of his tenancy.
0:29:43 > 0:29:47The precinct team carried out routine patrols between 10 o'clock
0:29:47 > 0:29:51every night and the early hours of the morning, and they found that the
0:29:51 > 0:29:55vehicle that's registered to him was parked outside his wife's address.
0:29:55 > 0:29:58It was actually parked in the driveway of that property.
0:29:58 > 0:30:02It was quite clear to us that he was staying at that property.
0:30:02 > 0:30:05As Craig suspected, it seemed the tenant had moved out of his flat,
0:30:05 > 0:30:07and into his wife's home.
0:30:08 > 0:30:11Nothing wrong with that, of course - but he should have notified
0:30:11 > 0:30:14them of his change in circumstances, and given the keys back.
0:30:15 > 0:30:19Instead, it seemed he had allowed his 16-year-old son to stay
0:30:19 > 0:30:21there. And in the eyes of the law
0:30:21 > 0:30:24this was classified as unlawful subletting -
0:30:24 > 0:30:28regardless of whether or not his son was paying rent to stay there.
0:30:28 > 0:30:30To find out exactly what was going on,
0:30:30 > 0:30:33Craig decided to make an unannounced visit.
0:30:33 > 0:30:36When I got to the address, there was
0:30:36 > 0:30:39young people on the other side of the door who refused to open
0:30:39 > 0:30:43but I could hear that there was young people living there.
0:30:43 > 0:30:47Shortly after Craig's unsuccessful visit, the official tenant
0:30:47 > 0:30:50contacted him and arranged to meet him at the flat.
0:30:51 > 0:30:54A few hours later I received a phone call at the office
0:30:54 > 0:30:57and it was the lawful tenant asking me if I wanted to go back,
0:30:57 > 0:31:01wanting to know what I wanted, and I went back to the address.
0:31:01 > 0:31:04He met me there and it was quite clear to me that he
0:31:04 > 0:31:05wasn't actually living there.
0:31:05 > 0:31:08He'd come back to the property, he'd quickly turned it
0:31:08 > 0:31:11upside down to make it look like he'd been living there long-term.
0:31:11 > 0:31:15But it was quite evident actually that he wasn't living there.
0:31:15 > 0:31:17His toothbrush wasn't there for example,
0:31:17 > 0:31:20he had no clothes, there was no clothes in the wardrobe.
0:31:20 > 0:31:24There was no other footwear by the door, for example,
0:31:24 > 0:31:27it was all footwear for young people - no adult sizes footwear.
0:31:27 > 0:31:29It was quite clear to me he was not living there.
0:31:29 > 0:31:32The official tenant was still trying to convince Craig
0:31:32 > 0:31:36he was a single parent and needed the flat for himself and his son.
0:31:36 > 0:31:38I asked him some rather challenging questions,
0:31:38 > 0:31:42I said to him "Are you married?" And he told me that he wasn't married.
0:31:42 > 0:31:46Little did he know that I already had managed to obtain
0:31:46 > 0:31:49his marriage certificate so I knew he was married.
0:31:49 > 0:31:51I interviewed him under caution,
0:31:51 > 0:31:53so by law he had just incriminated himself.
0:31:56 > 0:31:59To establish once and for all who was and who wasn't
0:31:59 > 0:32:03living at the flat, Craig decided to make another surprise visit.
0:32:03 > 0:32:05And this time, he had police backup.
0:32:06 > 0:32:09A couple of weeks later we came back to his address again,
0:32:09 > 0:32:11and this time we came with the police.
0:32:12 > 0:32:13A young girl came to the door.
0:32:13 > 0:32:18The young girl was about 16 years old, and she wasn't alone.
0:32:18 > 0:32:20There were five other people in that property.
0:32:20 > 0:32:23There were sleeping bags there, it looked completely different
0:32:23 > 0:32:26to how it'd been in the property two weeks earlier.
0:32:27 > 0:32:31The visit to the flat finally confirmed Craig's suspicions.
0:32:31 > 0:32:33He decided to interview the tenant again,
0:32:33 > 0:32:36and this time present him with the evidence.
0:32:36 > 0:32:39In the early stages of the interview, he was denying our
0:32:39 > 0:32:43case, he said that we'd got it wrong and that he had been living there.
0:32:43 > 0:32:45However once I produced the marriage certificate,
0:32:45 > 0:32:49once I produced the reports I'd received from the police
0:32:49 > 0:32:50about his daily whereabouts
0:32:50 > 0:32:52and where he'd been staying in the evening,
0:32:52 > 0:32:56once I produced to him documents that related him
0:32:56 > 0:32:58to another address, he soon backtracked.
0:32:58 > 0:33:04And he admitted, under caution, that he no longer lives at this address.
0:33:04 > 0:33:06Craig explained to the tenant that he could be
0:33:06 > 0:33:09prosecuted for unlawful subletting, and if found guilty
0:33:09 > 0:33:12he could be fined or even given a prison sentence.
0:33:12 > 0:33:16As is normal in this type of investigation,
0:33:16 > 0:33:19when you've proven a case the perpetrator will be quite
0:33:19 > 0:33:23keen to get themselves out of as much trouble as possible.
0:33:23 > 0:33:24And therefore he said,
0:33:24 > 0:33:28if he handed his keys back in will we still take action?
0:33:28 > 0:33:32And as is normal in this type of scenario
0:33:32 > 0:33:34he handed his keys back in very quickly.
0:33:36 > 0:33:39This flat has been redecorated and is now home to a young family,
0:33:39 > 0:33:41and for Craig, it's job done.
0:33:43 > 0:33:45I've heard it before where people say tenancy fraud
0:33:45 > 0:33:47is not a serious offence.
0:33:47 > 0:33:49Many people don't know it's a criminal offence, it is
0:33:49 > 0:33:52a criminal offense, it carries a custodial sentence.
0:33:52 > 0:33:54My message to residents of Aylesbury is that
0:33:54 > 0:33:57if you are going to flout the law in relation to tenancy fraud,
0:33:57 > 0:34:00or any aspect of tenancy fraud is that we are working very
0:34:00 > 0:34:02hard to come and get you.
0:34:06 > 0:34:10Social housing is extremely important, it's extremely,
0:34:10 > 0:34:13more and more, an issue where people are homeless.
0:34:13 > 0:34:16So I think we have to have a national responsibility for that
0:34:16 > 0:34:18and I think we have to increase social housing.
0:34:18 > 0:34:21It's one of the key things in a country,
0:34:21 > 0:34:23or just a massive city like London.
0:34:23 > 0:34:25I mean there needs to be, you know,
0:34:25 > 0:34:28affordable housing for people who really can't afford it,
0:34:28 > 0:34:31you know, considering they, I mean, the height in house prices.
0:34:31 > 0:34:34There are lots of people who are never going to be able to
0:34:34 > 0:34:37afford to buy houses. They need somewhere decent to live.
0:34:37 > 0:34:40Human beings are human beings and should be treated fairly.
0:34:44 > 0:34:47Local authority housing officers aren't just there to look
0:34:47 > 0:34:49after social housing.
0:34:49 > 0:34:51They also ensure private housing, which is
0:34:51 > 0:34:54being rented out to multiple occupants, is being used safely.
0:34:54 > 0:34:58And it was an inspection of a private property which was
0:34:58 > 0:35:00the key to opening up this next case.
0:35:02 > 0:35:06This is a story of lies and fake identity which enabled one man,
0:35:06 > 0:35:11Ademola Lojede, to get a council flat and claim housing benefit
0:35:11 > 0:35:14while all the time, owning his own house.
0:35:17 > 0:35:19In the Royal Borough Of Greenwich in South London,
0:35:19 > 0:35:22they take housing fraud very seriously.
0:35:23 > 0:35:26Chief Investigator Nigel Brown has helped take back
0:35:26 > 0:35:30over 1,000 properties in the 20 years since he's been in the job.
0:35:31 > 0:35:32This case came to him
0:35:32 > 0:35:36after a routine visit by a council colleague, who checked on this
0:35:36 > 0:35:39privately owned house in Plumstead, in the east of the borough.
0:35:40 > 0:35:43The council have a duty of care to make sure that tenants in
0:35:43 > 0:35:46private accommodation are living in safe accommodation.
0:35:46 > 0:35:49And one of the duties of the Residential Services,
0:35:49 > 0:35:52they visit homes in multiple occupation to ensure just that -
0:35:52 > 0:35:54that tenants are living in a safe environment.
0:35:54 > 0:35:56Our residential services team visited this
0:35:56 > 0:35:59property on September 14 to ensure
0:35:59 > 0:36:02the tenants inside the property were living in good conditions.
0:36:03 > 0:36:06The team made some routine enquiries about the landlord
0:36:06 > 0:36:09and discovered he was a man named Joseph Adebayo.
0:36:09 > 0:36:11As part of their enquiries,
0:36:11 > 0:36:14residential services would obtain details of who the landlord was.
0:36:14 > 0:36:17They found that the landlord of the property was Joseph Adebayo.
0:36:18 > 0:36:21The council offices ran some checks on the landlord,
0:36:21 > 0:36:24and when they looked into his bank accounts and investigated
0:36:24 > 0:36:27his credit references, it seemed he had a second identity.
0:36:28 > 0:36:30They made checks into a Joseph Adebayo,
0:36:30 > 0:36:34and they identified that he also had another name of Ademola Lojede.
0:36:35 > 0:36:38As the landlord seemed to have two identities,
0:36:38 > 0:36:40Nigel and the fraud team got involved.
0:36:40 > 0:36:43They then referred the matter to us, as we deal with all criminal
0:36:43 > 0:36:47investigations, and they passed the case to us at that time.
0:36:48 > 0:36:52Nigel ran the second identity through local authority records,
0:36:52 > 0:36:56and found the name Lojede cropped up on Greenwich Council's radar.
0:36:56 > 0:36:58He was one of their council tenants.
0:36:58 > 0:37:01First of all, Nigel needed to find out
0:37:01 > 0:37:04if the two identities belonged to the same man.
0:37:04 > 0:37:07Once we had the information from Residential Services,
0:37:07 > 0:37:09we looked much deeper into Mr Lojede.
0:37:09 > 0:37:12We made sure and established that it is one and the same person,
0:37:12 > 0:37:15which would involve name checks, identity checks
0:37:15 > 0:37:19and so forth, enquiries of all different agencies.
0:37:19 > 0:37:23They established that the two names did belong to one person,
0:37:23 > 0:37:25because they both had the same date of birth
0:37:25 > 0:37:28and were connected to the same addresses.
0:37:28 > 0:37:31There were also links between the bank accounts of the two identities,
0:37:31 > 0:37:35and both names were linked to the same mobile phone number.
0:37:35 > 0:37:37There was actually no doubt in our minds at all
0:37:37 > 0:37:39that this was one and the same person.
0:37:39 > 0:37:42Ultimately they found his passport details and discovered
0:37:42 > 0:37:48his full name was in fact Ademola Akingbade Akintoye Lojede.
0:37:48 > 0:37:51Joseph Adebayo was a fake ID.
0:37:53 > 0:37:56Now they needed to know how a homeowner came to be
0:37:56 > 0:37:57occupying a council flat.
0:37:59 > 0:38:03Lojede had first applied for a social flat back in 2003.
0:38:04 > 0:38:08My inquiries found that Mr Lojede had applied for housing in 2003,
0:38:10 > 0:38:12because he was overcrowded with his family.
0:38:13 > 0:38:16Mr Lojede was eligible for a social housing flat
0:38:16 > 0:38:19because the house he was in was overcrowded.
0:38:19 > 0:38:21He had to wait six years.
0:38:21 > 0:38:25But eventually in 2009, this flat became available in Greenwich.
0:38:27 > 0:38:30In 2003, Mr Lojede had come to the Royal Borough Of Greenwich
0:38:30 > 0:38:33and basically said that he needed somewhere to live because
0:38:33 > 0:38:36he was living with his family, with his siblings -
0:38:36 > 0:38:38it was all overcrowded.
0:38:38 > 0:38:41In 2009, some six years later, we gave him a tenancy
0:38:41 > 0:38:45and offered him a one bedroom flat in the premises here.
0:38:45 > 0:38:48But the investigation reveals that by that time,
0:38:48 > 0:38:52Mr Lojede had already bought a home of his own, in Plumstead -
0:38:52 > 0:38:55a fact he failed to mention to the council.
0:38:55 > 0:38:58Instead, he moved into the social housing flat and began letting
0:38:58 > 0:39:00out his own house to tenants.
0:39:02 > 0:39:03So on his housing application,
0:39:03 > 0:39:07Mr Lojede failed to declare that he actually owned any other properties.
0:39:07 > 0:39:10And on his form, which I have here, there's a question that asks
0:39:10 > 0:39:14"Do you, or anyone moving in with you, own any other residential property?"
0:39:14 > 0:39:15And to that, Mr Lojede ticked "No."
0:39:15 > 0:39:17Had we known that he owned a property,
0:39:17 > 0:39:20we wouldn't have given him a council flat here.
0:39:20 > 0:39:21Or anywhere.
0:39:22 > 0:39:26And not content with fraudulently occupying a social housing flat,
0:39:26 > 0:39:30Mr Lojede then made an application for housing benefit.
0:39:30 > 0:39:35He basically got the tenancy, and in 2011, two years later,
0:39:35 > 0:39:37he then started to claim housing benefit from that address.
0:39:37 > 0:39:41Once again, didn't actually mention that he owned any property.
0:39:41 > 0:39:44It wasn't until the routine check of his house in Plumstead
0:39:44 > 0:39:49in 2014 that officers began to suspect Mr Lojede of wrongdoing.
0:39:50 > 0:39:54Our enquiries identified that he was the owner of the address,
0:39:54 > 0:39:57and that was done via a Land Registry check, which I have.
0:39:57 > 0:40:00It basically says that he's owned this since the 16 December 2005,
0:40:00 > 0:40:03and that he purchased it for £160,000.
0:40:03 > 0:40:06None of this was told to us at all,
0:40:06 > 0:40:08and it was completely kept secret from us.
0:40:10 > 0:40:13Once the fraud team had the evidence that Lojede was both a social
0:40:13 > 0:40:17housing tenant and a homeowner, they called him in for an interview.
0:40:18 > 0:40:21We put to him about the fact that he owns a property on Reidhaven Road,
0:40:21 > 0:40:23and he denied that he was the owner.
0:40:23 > 0:40:26He said that although his name was on the Land Registry,
0:40:26 > 0:40:28it's actually his brother that owns the property
0:40:28 > 0:40:30and he simply put his name down on it
0:40:30 > 0:40:33because his brother couldn't get a mortgage because he lives abroad.
0:40:33 > 0:40:36None of the evidence supported that, simply
0:40:36 > 0:40:39because Mr Lojede was also the landlord of the property
0:40:39 > 0:40:42and receiving the rent, there was no indication that any rental
0:40:42 > 0:40:46money was being paid to his brother - it just didn't stack up.
0:40:46 > 0:40:48Just didn't seem to be true.
0:40:49 > 0:40:52The investigation team had all the documentary evidence
0:40:52 > 0:40:55they needed that Mr Lojede was defrauding the council,
0:40:55 > 0:40:57and they brought a case against him.
0:40:58 > 0:41:01Mr Lojede was summonsed to appear at Bexley Magistrates' Court,
0:41:01 > 0:41:02and he did attend,
0:41:02 > 0:41:06and he pleaded "not guilty" to all of the five charges against him.
0:41:06 > 0:41:08The matter then was passed up to a Crown Court
0:41:08 > 0:41:10and the matter went to Woolwich Crown Court,
0:41:10 > 0:41:14and there Mr Lojede pleaded "guilty" to all five charges.
0:41:14 > 0:41:16Thus, our case against him was proven.
0:41:18 > 0:41:21When he appeared at Woolwich Crown Court, Mr Lojede was
0:41:21 > 0:41:24jailed for 16 months, but as far as Nigel
0:41:24 > 0:41:27and the fraud team are concerned that's not the end of the matter.
0:41:28 > 0:41:30As a result of his fraud against us,
0:41:30 > 0:41:32Mr Lojede was sentenced to 16 months in prison.
0:41:32 > 0:41:35He's currently serving his time now.
0:41:35 > 0:41:38However, the debt that he needs to pay us back hasn't been repaid.
0:41:38 > 0:41:41We are now pursuing him for the £70,000 that he owes us,
0:41:41 > 0:41:43and the £20,000 for the benefit fraud.
0:41:43 > 0:41:46The good thing - Mr Lojede does own a property on Reidhaven Road,
0:41:46 > 0:41:49it's got equity, therefore he's got enough to pay us
0:41:49 > 0:41:51our money back - the whole £90,000, we are
0:41:51 > 0:41:53now going to pursue that through the civil court.
0:41:57 > 0:42:01Tenancy cheats are abusing one of our nation's greatest assets
0:42:01 > 0:42:03- our social housing stock.
0:42:03 > 0:42:07But one by one, those cheats are being stopped in their tracks,
0:42:07 > 0:42:10thanks to housing investigators pounding the streets
0:42:10 > 0:42:12and knocking on doors across the UK.