Council tenant faces jail for subletting her Northampton home

Mrs Rashid's council house was in Danefield Road, Abington

Shifa Rashid was convicted of fraudulently subletting her council home in Danefield Road, Abington following a six- day trial at Northampton Crown Court, and now faces spending time in prison.

A jury found that Mrs Rashid had rented her property out, against the terms of her tenancy and made a profit from doing so. She has been released on conditional bail but will be sentenced on October 30.

Northampton Partnership Homes, the organisation responsible for council housing services said it hopes this conviction sends out a strong message to fraudsters.

Mike Kay, NPH chief executive said: “For me, this is about making sure that council homes are available for those in most need.

"We all know that housing is a massive issue in Northampton and we will not tolerate people abusing the system and profiting from our housing stock.

"We take fraud very seriously and will not hesitate to take action when we have sufficient evidence.”

NPH will be asking the court to order that Mrs Rashid repays the profits she made along with the costs associated with taking her to court.

Officers at NPH are also taking action to recover the property so that it can be re-let to a family in genuine need of a council home.

If you know anyone committing housing fraud, you can speak to someone in confidence on 0300 330 7003 or email [email protected]