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A benefit cheat who falsely claimed £15,000 has been given a suspended jail sentence. Sivasubramanian Srithar, 53, was claiming housing and council tax benefit at a house in Bye Way, Harrow between January 2004 and March 2011 despite living in a house he owned in Coventry. Srithar was caught red handed in 2011 through a new data-matching system used by Harrow Council which showed he was paying a mortgage on a property in Beake Avenue, Coventry. The cheat had bought the house in Coventry in 2007, using a £40,000 deposit from the sale of his parents’ home in Sri Lanka with his daughter and her family were living in the Harrow house. Srithar was also claiming benefits from Coventry Council. Appearing at Willesden Magistrates Court on December 17 he admitted falsely claiming benefits and told the court that he had assumed Coventry Council would inform Harrow that he had moved there. Harrow Council's Tory leader Councillor Susan Hall said: Once again we have caught up with someone who...

An amnesty for local authority tenants illegally subletting their homes has seen the keys to £2.1 million properties handed back to Barnet Council in a month. Barnet housing chiefs gave residents illegally subletting their council homes until November 15 to give up the properties without fear of prosecution. As the deadline passed 14 sets of keys had been returned . The council estimates that it would cost around £2.1 million to build the equivalent number of homes, assuming each unit cost £150,000. The amnesty was a response to the introduction of the Prevention of Social Housing Fraud Act 2013 , which means people illegally subletting their home now face a jail term of up to two years, a fine of up to £5,000 and a criminal record. The council said that information gathered during the amnesty would lead to further properties being recovered. Cabinet member for housing Tom Davey, said: This is an amazing result and highlights the importance of effective management of housing stock in L...

South Essex Homes and Southend Council have joined Barnet and doubtless others in offering illegal sub-letters a short amnesty period if they hand in their keys. Council tenants who illegally sub-let their homes have been warned to hand their back keys or face prosecution. South Essex Homes and Southend Council have announced a “ key amnesty ” for such tenants in an effort to get offenders to own up before the weight of a new law is brought to bear on them. Under the Prevention of Social Housing Fraud Act, which came into force last month, tenants illegally sub-letting property could face a two year prison sentence and a fine of as much as £50,000. Under the amnesty, Southend Council tenants who are sub-letting are being offered the chance to end their tenancies without fear of prosecution for tenancy fraud if they give up their properties before November 30. Lynsey Hurd, from South Essex Homes, which manages Southend Council’s housing stock, said: Not only is sub-letting a problem for...