A crackdown on illegally sub-letted council flats has resulted in 44 properties being recovered by Wandsworth Council.

The local authority recovered the rental flats and houses last year after establishing that the occupants were not entitled to be there.

Some of the properties had been sub-let by their tenants to strangers for cash while other cases involved tenants "passing on" the properties to friends or relatives without permission.

Councillor Paul Ellis, the cabinet member for housing, said: "People who sublet to line their own pockets or pass the keys on to friends or relatives are depriving homeless families of a roof over their heads.

"Anyone who thinks they are going to get away with abusing the system needs to think again.

One property in Battersea was being rented out by a tenant who had moved abroad and retired, while another flat on a neighbouring estate was being rented out by the tenant, who was living and working on the Continent after advertising it on the Gumtree website.

Another tenant was renting out her two-bed council flat in Tooting after moving into a house she had purchased in Croydon.

Coun Ellis added: "The council carries out stringent checks on tenants long after they have been given the keys to make sure they remain entitled to housing support.

"We cross-check many different types of information with our own records and also with those held by other local authorities, housing associations, schools and a whole range of other public bodies."

Across England as a whole approximately 50,000 council-owned homes are thought to have been illegally sublet.

On April 1, a new "bedroom tax" was introduced which will cut the housing benefits of tenants living in social housing by 14 per cent if they have one spare bedroom, and 25 per cent if they have two.

It was introduced by the Government to encourage social housing tenants to downscale their housing size when their need becomes less.

National Housing Federation figures released last month show more than 2,000 people would be affected in Wandsworth alone.

Anyone with information about bogus tenancies in Wandsworth can call the subletting hotline on 020 8871 6556 or email hms@wandsworth.gov.uk.