A mother-of-two who illegally sublet her Brent council flat has been convicted of social housing fraud and slapped with fines and legal costs of more than £3,000.

Racheal Panda Noah, 48, pleaded guilty on August 22 at Willesden Magistrates' Court to letting out her property in Pinemartin Close, Cricklewood, between October 15 2013 and March 22 2017.

During this period, Ms Panda Noah, who lives with her partner and two children in south east London, breached her tenancy agreement by renting out her Cricklewood flat to a relative at roughly the same amount she was paying her landlord London and Quadrant.

Ms Panda Noah's failure to get written permission from her landlord before subletting the property landed her with a £500 fine, on top of an unlawful profit order of £1,170 and £1,350 in legal costs.

District Judge Brennan said Ms Panda Noah's actions had denied Brent Council the ability to give the flat to someone who was genuinely entitled to it.

Cllr Harbi Farah, cabinet minister for housing and welfare reform at Brent Council, said: "People who play the social housing system for their own profit are depriving those with a genuine housing need.

"We are in a housing crisis where the waiting list for a three-bedroom council flat is 14 years."

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