Dilek Koca
Haringey resident claims council paid thousands of pounds in housing benefit for a house she was not living in
By Michael Daventry
Haringey Council is investigating claims it paid out more than £3500 in housing benefits for an unoccupied Tottenham flat.
Dilek Koca had to spend nearly eighteen months away from her Ruskin Road home because it required extensive renovations following a fire.
But while her housing association provided her with alternative accommodation for part of that time, she was also forced to live with friends for several months.
Metropolitan, the company responsible for the upkeep of the property which received the money directly from the council, said Ms Koca was rehoused “for the period that her flat was being renovated as a result of the fire”.
But Ms Koca said there were periods when she had to pay for her own rent and that Metropolitan was refusing to reimburse her.
She said housing benefit payments totalling £3528.88 were made by Haringey Council for the flat while she was not living in it.
The figure is the sum of payments made on Ms Koca’s behalf between 30 June 2011 and 6 February 2012, the period she says she was not rehoused.
“I had to pay rent and live with friends in Palmers Green and Edmonton, which means rent was being paid twice for me,” she told Londra Gazete. “I also spent 43 days staying in a hotel.
“When I asked Metropolitan for my money back, they sent me a lawyers’ letter telling me the fire was my fault and they would bill me for the entire refurbishment if I carried on.”
When contacted by Londra Gazete, Metropolitan refused to comment on this specific point. Ms Koca denies being responsible for the fire.
In a statement, the housing association said rent “was still payable on the Ruskin Road property during the renovation”.
It continued: “As the resident was entitled to housing benefit, it was used to pay it.
“However, there was no rent charged on the alternative accommodation we provided during the Ruskin Road renovation following the fire.
“The resident was not paying two sets of rent to us during this renovation period.”
In a statement Haringey Council said: “We take all allegations of the misuse of benefits seriously.
“In this case, we were not notified of any change in circumstances and we will now be investigating further.”