Criminal Record For Eltham Woman Who Illegally Sublet Council Flat For Seven Years

* Cllr Chris Kirby

by our RBG Correspondent | Woolwich

A woman from Eltham has received a suspended prison sentence after pleading guilty to illegally subletting her council home following a prosecution by the Royal Borough of Greenwich.

Jacqueline Willoughby, 60, obtained a 3-bedroom flat in Southend Close, Eltham, from the Council in 1985. At the time she was married with a young family. A year later she became the sole tenant of the property after her marriage ended and she continued to live there, paying rent, with her two children.

In July 2013 Ms Willoughby submitted a Right to Buy (RTB) application to Royal Greenwich to purchase the home. Also included in the application was her son and his wife. The purchase price was £165,000 and she would have received a discount of £100,000. The application was withdrawn by the Council in June 2014 after she failed to provide further information.

In August 2014 a second RTB application was received to purchase the property, and again her son was included in the application. By this time, the value of the property has increased to £175,000 and Ms Willoughby would have received a discount of £102,700 had the application progressed.

As part of the checks now made on all Right to Buy applications made in Greenwich, officers from the Councils’ Unauthorised Occupation team made checks to confirm the status of the residents. In November 2014, officers visited the property at Southend Close and found a couple living there. They stated they had lived at the address since May 2014 and paid rent to Mr Willoughby, Ms Willoughby’s son. A Notice to Quit was served by the team and the matter was referred to the Council’s Internal Audit & Anti-Fraud team to investigate further.

Ms Willoughby was interviewed under caution on 11 December 2014 and provided a statement that she knew nothing of the tenants at Southend Close and then gave a ‘no comment’ interview. Immediately after the interview she terminated her tenancy at Southend Close.

Using the Prevention of Social Housing Fraud Act powers, Internal Audit & Anti-Fraud investigators obtained the bank accounts of both Jacqueline Willoughby and her son. These identified that her son had received regular payments into his bank account from the couple found at property. Ms Willoughby’s bank account showed that she had received regular payments from her son from August 2012 of around £700 - £750 a month, often marked as ‘rent & bills’.

Ms Willoughby was interviewed under caution again by investigators on 13 March 2015 where she admitted marrying in 2007 and that she had been living with her new husband at his property elsewhere in Eltham, leaving her son to live at the property at Southend Lane. She claimed to have no idea that he was subletting the property.Enquiries later confirmed that he moved out in April 2014.

On 14 December 2015 Ms Willoughby attended Woolwich Crown Court and pleaded guilty to 4 offences under the Fraud Act 2006. On 18 January 2015 she was sentenced (at Woolwich Crown Court) to 9 months in prison suspended for 2 years, ordered to complete 150 hours community service and ordered to pay costs to the Council of £750.

Councillor Chris Kirby, Cabinet Member for Housing, said: “All council tenants have a duty to inform us when their circumstances change, especially if they no longer wish to live at the home that we provide to them. It is our responsibility to determine who lives there after they leave, not theirs to decide to house their relatives or friends."

"Like all councils, the Royal Borough has a waiting list of families, some of whom have to live in temporary accommodation for months at a time, who are desperate for a place to call home and by illegally subletting her home for 7 years, Ms Willoughby and her son deprived a family on our housing list of a home to which they were entitled. I hope this sends a clear message to people who commit this kind of crime that we will prosecute and you will receive a criminal record.”

If you suspect someone of committing fraud against the Royal Borough call 0800 169 6975 or email fraud@royalgreenwich.gov.uk. Any information you give will be treated in strictest confidence.