Overview
- Southwark Council confirmed on Thursday that it has recovered possession of the two‑bedroom flat in Walworth and will reallocate it to a household in genuine housing need.
- Fatima Jabbe‑Bio kept the tenancy for more than a decade and continued to be listed on the Southwark property after moving in 2018 to the presidential lodge in Freetown.
- The council's Housing Investigations Team carried out a 12‑month probe focused on the rule that a council home must be a tenant's principal residence, which led to the recovery.
- Reporting last year by the OCCRP and recent UK coverage alleged the first lady holds other high‑value properties, and she defended her position in a BBC interview while a planned Cambridge appearance was cancelled.
- The case has political resonance in London, where more than 18,000 households wait for social housing in Southwark, and the council says it has recovered 107 properties in the last two years to address demand.