Two council tenants who made thousands of pounds by illegally sub-letting their flats have been ordered to do community service.
George William Keates, who made £15,244 by letting out his flat in Swanborough Place, Whitehawk, after moving to Coventry, has been given 280 hours of unpaid work and ordered to pay a £260 victim surcharge.
And Jacqueline Lewin-McKibben paid a higher price for letting out her home in Kingswood Flats, Tarner, when she moved to Saltdean – as well as 240 hours of unpaid work and a £260 victim surcharge, the immigration officer has also resigned from the Home Office.
Ms Lewin-McKibben will attend also three sessions on the Inspire course for women offenders, run by the Women’s Centre in Brighton.
Mr Keates was found guilty of contravening the Prevention of Social Housing Fraud Act 2013. Ms Lewin-McKibben, currently of Abbotsbury Close in Saltdean was charged under the Fraud Act 2006.
Chair of Housing and New Homes, Councillor Anne Meadows, said: “It is shameful that this illegal practice persists at a time of such austerity and increasing homelessness.
“There are more than 20,000 people on our council house waiting list, and yet these two have no qualms in denying others a much needed home for the sake of greed.”
