Southwark Council has repossessed a taxpayer-subsidised council flat in south London from the First Lady of Sierra Leone, Fatima Jabbe-Bio, after a year-long investigation into her continued tenancy.
The local authority confirmed this week that it had taken possession of the two-bedroom property in Walworth, where Ms Jabbe-Bio had been listed as the tenant since 2007. She left the UK in 2018 when her husband, Julius Maada Bio, was elected president of Sierra Leone, and the couple now share a lavish presidential lodge in Freetown complete with a swimming pool, tennis court and helipad.
Breach of council housing rules
The seizure followed a 12-month probe by Southwark’s Housing Investigations Team. Under UK council housing rules, a local authority property must be a tenant’s principal or sole residence. By remaining on the tenancy while living permanently abroad in a presidential residence, Ms Jabbe-Bio was deemed to have breached that fundamental condition.
Neighbours told investigators that the flat had been largely empty for at least three years and that they had not seen Ms Jabbe-Bio since she moved to Sierra Leone. Electoral registers show she was registered to vote at the address as early as 2009, and her daughter from a previous marriage, Tigda Soley, was also listed there in 2023. A company was registered to the Walworth address in 2008.
Reginald Popoola, Southwark’s executive member for council homes, said: “We can confirm we have taken possession of a property in Walworth following a 12-month investigation by our Housing Investigations Team. I look forward to bringing this council property back to its original purpose which is to provide a safe and secure home for people with legitimate housing need on the Council’s waiting list.”
First lady’s defence
In an interview with the BBC last month, Ms Jabbe-Bio defended keeping the flat. The former model and actress insisted she had “not committed any crime” and was paying for the property herself. “My children are all British citizens,” she said. “I’m paying for my council house myself. I have not committed any crime.”
However, housing rules do not permit a council tenant to retain a property solely for use by children or other family members if the tenant themselves no longer lives there as their main home. The council’s investigation concluded that Ms Jabbe-Bio’s principal residence was now the presidential lodge in Sierra Leone, meaning the Walworth flat was being held in breach of the tenancy agreement.
Housing need in Southwark
Southwark Council is grappling with severe demand for social housing. As of March 2026, there were 22,755 households on the waiting list, with projections suggesting it would take 329 years to clear at the current rate of building. The average waiting time for a two-bedroom property in the borough is 1,835 days — more than five years. Of those on the list, around 4,000 households are in temporary accommodation.
The council’s dedicated Housing Investigations Team has recovered 107 properties over the past two years. In a similar case in April 2025, Southwark secured an Unlawful Profit Order of nearly £40,000 against a tenant who illegally sublet a Walworth property for more than a decade. The council estimates that unlawful subletting costs the public at least £42,000 per property.
Popoola said the recovered Walworth flat “will be swiftly allocated to a local family in genuine housing need.”
Background on Fatima Jabbe-Bio
Born in Sierra Leone on 27 November 1980, Ms Jabbe-Bio moved to the UK as an asylum seeker in the late 1990s, reportedly escaping an arranged child marriage during the country’s civil war. She studied at the Roehampton Institute in London, earning a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Performing Art, and later obtained a BA in journalism from the University of the Arts, London College of Communication. She worked in film, writing, acting and producing low-budget Nollywood productions, and won “Best Supporting Actress” at the 2011 ZAFAA Awards for her role in Mirror Boy.
She met Julius Maada Bio in London around 2012 while he was fundraising for his first presidential bid. They married in 2013, and he was elected president in 2018 and re-elected in 2023. The couple have four children.
Investigative reporting by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) has alleged that Ms Jabbe-Bio owns high-end properties, including two villas in The Gambia, a luxury flat and an entire apartment building. Sale records suggest she acquired these between May 2022 and February 2024. Her mother is also listed as the owner of a luxury villa purchased for $500,000 during that period. The First Family has also faced scrutiny over alleged ties to a Dutch drug lord reportedly residing in Sierra Leone.
Ms Jabbe-Bio has been recognised for her activism against child marriage and gender-based violence, speaking at international forums including the United Nations. She was named “First Lady of the Year” at a UK political awards event in 2024.
The council has now formally recovered the Walworth property and confirmed it will be used to house a local family in genuine need.
