How tenant turned her council f lat into £60-a-night business
A HOUSING association t enant illegally sub-let her home on Airbnb more than 100 times in an area with a chronic housing shortage.
One guest who stayed in the home of Fatoumata Dao in Shepherd’s Bush, West London, even left a review stating he had been awoken by a council investigator and warning that the home was on the website illegally.
Ms Dao, who called herself Shelia Quest and Shelia Drame on the site, rented out two bedrooms in her £550,000 flat for £30 a night each.
An undercover reporter for The Mail on Sunday booked the room and established it was owned by Notting Hill Genesis housing association.
The listing for the home, which had been reviewed 119 times, said: ‘This will feel like home as you step through the front door.’
In the borough – Hammersmith and Fulham – there are about 3,000 people on the council’s housing register and it can take up to ten years to be offered a place. When questioned by the MoS, Ms Dao said: ‘It’s not something I do quite often. I can’t really talk now.’
Afterwards she took her listing off Airbnb.
A Notting Hill Genesis spokesman said: ‘We are aware of the situation. This case is being investigated.
‘ We take illegal sub- letting very seriously. When incidents come to light we investigate and take action where necessary. We would invite anyone who suspects our property is being sub-let through Airbnb or similar services to contact us.’