Stephen Ige found himself on the wrong side of his front door when Brent Housing Partnership (BHP) evicted him from his flat in Coronation Court last week.

Stephen had been illegally subletting the property for several years but was finally given the boot.

Mr Ige claimed he had married the original tenant and made several unsuccessful attempts to register the tenancy in his name. But when he was told that the original tenant had to appear in person with proof of identity no-one turned up.

Finally someone did appear and claimed to be the original tenant however she had no proof of identity - it had all been stolen she said.

And Mr Ige could hardly claim to be in housing need either because he owned two other properties in London including one in the borough. Now the flat will be used to house someone who genuinely needs it.

But Stephen Ige is not alone. Over the last two years BHP's tenancy team have worked closely with Brent Council's Audit and Investigation Team and have investigated 188 cases of illegal subletting. 43 of these have led to evictions and a further 11 currently have legal notices served on them.

BHP's Director of Housing Management, Sandra Royer said:

"We ensure that each and every case of suspected illegal subletting is thoroughly investigated and we are very successful in finding the culprits and showing them the door. The message is clear; if you are living in a council property illegally then we will evict you and let it to someone who really needs it."

Cllr James Allie Lead Member for Housing & Customer Services, said:

"I congratulate BHP on taking a zero tolerance stance against rogues and cheats. The council should be housing only law abiding tenants and we will root out rogues. Let this be a warning to other rogues. Well done BHP."