Clifton council tenant evicted for tenancy fraud

Following investigation by the council’s Tenancy Fraud Team, Michael Nyanjowa was found to be living in a property he was renting from a private landlord in Rushcliffe, while subletting the council property in Nottingham, for which he was also a tenant, since 2020.

He was evicted on 14 May this year following a County Court hearing in February at which  Nottingham City Council was granted an Outright Possession Order for the property.  Nyanjowa then failed to return the keys, at which point the council applied for and was awarded an eviction warrant.

He was also granted an Unlawful Profit Order by the Court for £2,337, meaning that he must now pay back the profit he made from his unlawful activities.

The property will now be let to someone in genuine need of housing.

Cllr Jay Hayes, Nottingham City Council’s Portfolio Holder for Housing, said, “This individual no longer used the council property as his only and principal home which, along with unlawfully subletting the property, constituted a breach of his tenancy agreement.

“We take issues of tenancy fraud very seriously as we want to make sure that only genuine people with real housing need live in council housing in the city.” 

Tenancy fraud usually involves one of the following:

• Subletting a council house (or part of it) to someone other than the person on the tenancy agreement
• The person on the tenancy agreement not living in the property as their main home
• Someone being dishonest about who they are or the circumstances they're in so that they can get a council house
• Key selling - passing on a key to someone else for payment

Anyone who suspects tenancy fraud can report it in confidence by:

• Calling 0115 746 9555
• Texting the word EMPTY followed by their name and number to 80800
• Emailing socialfraud@nottinghamcity.gov.uk