Flitwick man jailed after trying to sell house he didn't own

A Flitwick man who tried to sell a house he didn’t own has been jailed.

Andrew Smith, 41, was arrested in Bedford after he tried to sell a three-bedroom house he was renting – less than two weeks after being handed the keys by his landlord.

And he was only caught out in his “truly brazen crime” when a prospective buyer conducted a drain survey at the property.

Smith, of Gardeners Close, Flitwick, claimed he was moving to area for work when he began renting the three-bed house in Argyle Street, Cambridge, in February 2020.

But just a fortnight later the property appeared for sale online via a fake estate agent company. Two potential buyers unwittingly contacted the fake estate agent company and a price was agreed with one of them.

In June 2022, the victim, who believed they were buying the house, visited it with a drain surveyor.

But when he spoke to neighbours he discovered they thought the house was tenanted and not for sale and advised him to contact the letting agent. After discovering the property wasn’t for sale, he immediately contacted police.

Officers discovered many documents Smith had provided to the letting agent were fraudulent and he had made payments to a furniture rental company, which supplies furniture for show homes, shortly after moving in.

He eventually pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation and entering into money laundering.

Smith was sentenced to a total of two years and six months in prison at Brighton Magistrates’ Court on Friday (November 4).

Detective Constable Dan Harper said: “This is an almost unbelievable and truly brazen crime, which saw an innocent buyer almost part with more than £400,000 for a property that was never for sale in the first place. The investigation has been long and detailed and we have worked tirelessly to make sure justice has been served.”