Refugee decamp: Family living in £2m mansion funded by taxpayer move to new pad worth £1.3m just a mile away

EXCLUSIVE: Jobless refugee rehoused by council in Kilburn with heavily-subsidised rent.

A FAMILY of refugees have downsized from a £2million taxpayer-funded mansion  to a million pound semi-detached home owned by the local council just a mile away. 

Jobless Somali Saeed Khaliif, 53, and his brood were blasted in 2011 after quitting a modest Coventry home for a £2,000-a-week pad in West Hampstead, North London, as Camden Council paid the bill.

New life ... wife Sayida at family's London house

They had no links to the area, but wanted to live in the capital. After the Government capped benefits, they had to leave the pad, near actress Emma Thompson’s. But the council has now rehoused them in a £1.3million property it owns in Kilburn with heavily-subsidised rent.

No job ... Saeed Khaliif

The Sun traced the family to a four-bed semi which looks to have been recently renovated and was previously divided into flats.

Their new street is close to cafes, shops and bars in the up-and-coming area, which is also home to model Kate Moss and Peep Show star Robert Webb. A house on the road sold for £1.1million in 2013. Another is now worth £1.4million.

Camden Council sets rent for similar local properties as low as £150 a week well within allowances for housing benefit. In contrast privately-rented houses in nearby streets are on the market for around £3,000 per calendar month  or £750 a week.


One neighbour said the inside of the house was luxurious. Pedro Rodriguez, 39, said: “The council have given them a home of luxury and spent thousands renovating it before they moved in.

“The house is huge and it has been decorated to a very high standard with an open-plan layout, high spec kitchen and slate patio. “But they are strange and rude and do not open the door to council staff. I am very frustrated and stressed. It’s not right some people are given so much for free when others are struggling.”

Tory MP Andrew Bridgen blasted the Labour borough for handing over the luxury property.

He said: “The benefits cap was introduced to end abuse of the benefits system. On the face of it, it looks like the council are trying to undermine this sensible policy.”

Dia Chakravarty, political director at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Hard-pressed families will be furious so much was spent on housing a single family in one of London’s most expensive areas.”

It is understood Mr Khaliif, married to wife Sayida, 46 has up to eight children and lives on benefits. He has not worked since arriving in Britain in 2008. A council source said: “Two of the children have physical disabilities. That would contribute to their vulnerability as a family, placing them in council housing as a priority.”

Approached by The Sun last night, Mr Khaliif said: “I do not speak to newspapers. No, go away!”
A council spokesman said: “Our council homes are allocated on a needs basis in line with our policy and Government legislation.”