Council flats recovered from sub-letting tenants in Dagenham are given back to those in need
Waiting tenants have moved into a council flat after it was reclaimed from a man who owned another property.
Keys to the flat, in Rusholme Avenue, Dagenham, were taken back by Barking and Dagenham Council after it was revealed the man owned a property in Essex that he had not declared.
He is also believed to have sub-letted the flat while living elsewhere.
Cllr Mick McCarthy, cabinet member for housing, said: “With demand for council housing massively outstripping supply it’s simply not acceptable for people to abuse the system by getting a council flat when they own property elsewhere.
“Council homes are for people to live in, not so that others can make a quick buck by sub-letting them.”
Work by the council’s Housing Investigation Team led to the recovery of the keys in August and new tenants have since moved in.
In February the man’s wife was made to surrender keys to another flat in Exeter Road, Dagenham, after she bought a house while living there and failed to declare it.
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She was also suspected of sub-letting the council property.
