Islington Council wins back £260,000 in landmark tenancy fraud case

Gouranga Deb was ordered to back £242,705 plus £18,000 in costs at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Wednesday 11 September.  

Mr Deb fraudulently took on a council tenancy in 2011 without telling the council he had bought a home in nearby Haringey in the time between applying for council housing and being offered a home.    

Throughout his tenancy, Mr Deb then failed to tell the council he owned the three-bedroom property – which was big enough for his family – and instead, let it for up to £2,000 a month while claiming for full housing benefit for the council tenancy and pocketing the proceeds.  

The council discovered the fraud when Mr Deb applied to buy his council home, at a significant discount, through the national Right to Buy scheme.  

With demand for council homes vastly outstripping the number available, Mr Deb’s actions deprived others on the social housing waiting list of a safe, decent and genuinely affordable place to call home. 

Mr Deb had previously been given a suspended sentence of two years, plus 30 Rehabilitative Activity Days days and 250 hours of unpaid work after pleading guilty to four counts of fraud at Snaresbook Crown Court in December 2022. 

The council was then able to recover the money by pursuing financial recompense under the Proceeds of Crime Act and was awarded what is believed to be one of the largest figures granted to a council in a case of housing fraud.  

Councillor Una O’Halloran, Executive Member for Homes and Neighbourhoods, said: “Council homes change lives, and we will not tolerate any activity that deprives people in genuine need of a safe, decent and affordable place to call home.  

“Our housing investigations team work tirelessly to deliver results like this and will always take action against the small minority of people who try to cheat the system, to make sure council homes are going to people who really need them. 

“At a time when people in Islington, like all London boroughs, are facing a housing crisis and there is huge demand for council homes, this is an excellent result for our residents.” 

Nationally, it’s estimated that every property subject to tenancy fraud costs the public purse £42,000. In the last six months, the council’s housing investigations team have already recovered 36 properties that were being fraudulently let, which will now be offered to people in genuine need.  

If you have any information of tenancy fraud occurring within the borough, please contact the team at housing.fraud@islington.gov.uk