A fraudster who lived in a council home despite renting out another property that he owned has been ordered to pay more than £250,000.

Gouranga Deb took on an Islington Council tenancy in 2011 despite having bought a home in Haringey in the time between applying for council housing and being offered a home.

Throughout his tenancy, Deb failed to tell the council he owned the other three-bedroom home, which was big enough for his family to live in.

Instead, he rented it out for up to £2,000 a month, while claiming for full housing benefit for the council tenancy and pocketing the proceeds.

The fraud was discovered when Deb applied to buy his council home, at a significant discount, through the national Right to Buy scheme.

In December 2022, Deb was given a suspended sentence of two years, and ordered to complete 30 days of rehabilitation activities and 250 hours of unpaid work.

It came after he had pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud at Snaresbrook Crown Court.

Last Wednesday (September 11), Deb was ordered to pay Islington Council £242,705 as well as £18,000 in costs at the same court.

The council was able to recover the money by pursuing financial recompense under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

The amount awarded is believed to be one of the largest figures granted to a council in a case of housing fraud.  

Councillor Una O’Halloran, Islington’s executive member for homes and neighbourhoods, said: “Council homes change lives, and we will not tolerate any activity that deprives people in genuine need of a safe, decent and affordable place to call home.  

“Our housing investigations team work tirelessly to deliver results like this and will always take action against the small minority of people who try to cheat the system, to make sure council homes are going to people who really need them.”

Islington Council has said that every home subject to tenancy fraud costs the public purse £42,000.

In the last six months, the council’s housing investigations team have recovered 36 homes that were being fraudulently let.