Council tenant pleads guilty to subletting home on Airbnb

Council tenant pleads guilty to subletting home on Airbnb

0:03 AM, 27th August 2024, About 4 months ago 3

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A council flat tenant has admitted to unlawfully subletting his home by advertising the property for rent on Airbnb.

Reza Sherafaty, 39, pleaded guilty to three counts of tenancy fraud at Birmingham Magistrates Court on August 15.

The court heard that Birmingham City Council discovered Sherafaty had rented out the council home in Selly Oak for 158 nights, earning £8,127.27 in rental fees.

Property listed as a private house

The council obtained a court order to access Airbnb records and found photographs of the property listed as a ‘lovely entire private house with private parking’.

Sherafaty agreed to pay back the full value of the fraud and legal costs of nearly £13,000.

He has also signed a notice to quit his tenancy and return the property before a court hearing in October.

‘Subletting our homes and depriving a family’

Birmingham Council’s cabinet member for housing and homelessness, Councillor Jayne Francis, said: “Subletting our homes and depriving a family actually in need is illegal, and we will not tolerate it.

“There is a significant shortage of homes in Birmingham, with 25,000 people on the housing register in Birmingham waiting for one.

“For many families in the city and across the country, the reality is that many are enduring difficult circumstances and facing years-long waits for a home.”

She added: “We will not hesitate to conduct investigations and take action to ensure these homes are given to families in need.”

The council is also urging residents to report any suspected cases of council home subletting through their Report a Fraud service.


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Arthur Oxford

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11:02 AM, 27th August 2024, About 4 months ago

Not uncommon at all, but usually the properties are let on a long term basis (I won't say ASTs, as they are not often used) particularly in major cities where the social rents are considerable less than the market rate, so social tenants live elsewhere and let out at a decent profit. Sadly, this was made quite clear after the Grenfell disaster, where the authorities had no idea who was actually living in the building in many cases, as the flats had been illegally sublet. However, it was deemed "not in the public interest" to prosecute those social tenants who had illegally sublet.

Tom Jenkin

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11:59 AM, 27th August 2024, About 4 months ago

Manchester Council did a survey in 2012 and discovered about 12% of its social housing was illegally sublet from people renting out the entire property to people taking in a lodger.
And in one case they discovered someone was running a B&B from a large detached Council property. Apparently they had originally been given the 5 bed detached Victorian house because they had a large family but the kids had left so they decided to run a B&B from there Council house.
This is the problem with social housing we don't actively manage it .

Roy

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13:23 PM, 27th August 2024, About 4 months ago

What a joke. No fine and/or prison time - just pay back the value of the fraud - what ever that maybe - and the legal fees. Hardly sending a message that doing this sort of crime doesn't pay.

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