A fraudster secretly rented a council flat in Central London on AirBnB, despite having already moved out of the property.

The Westminster council tenant relocated to France while subletting their social housing property, but has now been exposed by the local authority's anti-fraud team.

The tenant, who occupied a flat in Kemp House, Soho, was discovered to be advertising the council property on the holiday rental platform.

The scheme came to light following a tip-off to Westminster City Council's Corporate Anti-Fraud Service, prompting an investigation that revealed the tenant had returned to their country of birth.

The tenant occupied a flat in Kemp House, Soho

It is part of a series of fraud cases totalling over £1million uncovered by the council within a twelve-month period.

During their investigation, fraud officers uncovered that the tenant had departed for France, their native country, whilst maintaining possession of the council property.

The probe revealed that £12,000 had been transferred to an unidentified individual who allegedly managed the Airbnb listings.

When questioned under caution, the tenant shifted responsibility to this mysterious third party.

They maintained they had no knowledge of the payments generated through the short-term lettings.

Westminster's anti-fraud team remained unconvinced by these protestations, proceeding with enforcement action against the tenant.

The team determined the property was both unoccupied by the legitimate tenant and being unlawfully sublet, breaching tenancy conditions.

The court proceedings resulted in a possession order against the tenant, with the tenant having to pay a fine of £12,890.

The financial investigation exposed that £12,000 had changed hands

The case was among 331 investigations concluded by the Corporate Anti-Fraud Service between April 2024 and March 2025, as detailed in the council's fraud report.

The successful prosecution formed part of Westminster's broader crackdown on housing fraud, which identified 182 active cases involving tenancy violations and unauthorised subletting.

It follows a benefits fraudster taking £77,000 from taxpayers in a five-year-long Universal Credit scam.