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# Ipswich landlord handed suspended sentence for lying his way into council home
- URL: https://www.ipswich.co.uk/ipswich-landlord-jailed-for-lying-his-way-into-council-home/
- Published: 2025-07-30T15:13:53.000Z
- Updated: 2026-03-16T15:06:52.000Z
- Description: A former council tenant has been given a two-year suspended prison sentence after fraudulently obtaining social housing whilst owning three commercial properties in Ipswich.
- Author: Oliver Rouane-Williams
- Tags: News, Crime, Courts, #article, Ipswich Borough Council, #Import 2026-03-16 14:43

Mahmut Dagdelen of Braziers Wood Road was sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court on Wednesday after being found guilty of five fraud offences in April.

- The 47-year-old must complete 250 hours of community service, follow a six-month curfew between 19:00 and 07:00, and pay £5,418 in costs to Ipswich Borough Council.
- Dagdelen's fraud spanned more than six years and involved multiple false declarations about his financial circumstances.

**The details:** The council's investigation revealed Dagdelen had applied for social housing whilst privately renting, falsely claiming his household income was less than £15,000 annually and that he and his wife had no savings or investments.

- He was granted temporary accommodation in April 2017 after claiming his family would become homeless, then moved into a three-bedroom council property in January 2018.
- The fraud was exposed when Dagdelen applied to buy the council home under the Right to Buy scheme just 13 months later, revealing he had secured a mortgage and amassed savings for the purchase.

**By the numbers:** Investigators discovered Dagdelen jointly owned three commercial units in Ipswich, purchased outright in 2016, generating rental income he had failed to declare.

The fraud cost the council £158,000 – the expense of keeping a family in temporary accommodation who could have occupied the property Dagdelen was granted.

**What they're saying:** Councillor Alasdair Ross, Portfolio Holder for Housing, said: "Mr Dagdelen's fraudulent activities are unacceptable, and his dishonesty prevented much-needed housing being given to families who have a genuine need."

**What's next:** Dagdelen vacated the council property in July 2023, which was reallocated to a family on the social housing register. A Proceeds of Crime hearing will take place at a later date.

**[Report suspected tenancy fraud](http://www.ipswich.gov.uk/housing/council-tenants/help-council-beat-social-housing-fraud?ref=ipswich.co.uk)**

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