London, 25 May 2026 — A British Member of Parliament has called on Southwark Council to launch an investigation into the tenancy of Sierra Leone’s First Lady, Fatima Bio, after she publicly admitted to retaining a subsidised two-bedroom council flat in the borough more than a year following its exposure by investigative journalists.
Neil Coyle, Labour MP for Bermondsey and Old Southwark, has written to the council urging it to examine whether residency rules have been breached.
UK council housing regulations generally require that social homes be used as a tenant’s primary residence and are prioritised for low-income local residents.
“I have asked Southwark Council to investigate,” Coyle told the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). “There are rules about residency which appear to have been broken. If she is not living in the UK, the property should be available for people living in Southwark.”
He described the situation as “a travesty” given the severe housing shortage, noting that some families wait years while others live in “opulence elsewhere.”
Background and Initial Exposure
The controversy first erupted in May 2025 when OCCRP, in collaboration with The Times, revealed that Bio, wife of Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio, continued to hold the tenancy of the Southwark flat despite moving into the presidential palace in Freetown in 2018.
Reporters and a neighbour observed signs that the property was sometimes unoccupied, including piled-up mail. Bio, a former actress and film producer who sought asylum in the UK during Sierra Leone’s civil war, had registered to vote at the address since 2009 and lived there with her children prior to her husband’s presidency.
In a recent BBC interview, Bio defended her position, stating that she pays the rent herself and that her British-citizen children reside in the flat. “I have committed no crime,” she said.
Luxury Property Portfolio
The case has drawn renewed attention amid reports of Bio and her family’s significant real estate acquisitions in The Gambia. An OCCRP investigation found that between 2020 and 2024, Bio and relatives acquired at least ten properties worth over $2.1 million, including two villas, a four-storey apartment building, beachfront apartments, and a luxury villa purchased in her mother’s name. Some transactions were linked to a businessman who received Sierra Leone government contracts.
Bio has previously dismissed questions about the source of funds for these properties.
Housing Crisis in Southwark
The revelations have struck a nerve in Southwark, where the demand for social housing is acute. The borough has more than 18,000 households on its housing waiting list, with average waits for larger properties exceeding five years in some cases. Only a small percentage of applicants successfully secure a council home each year.
Southwark Council has confirmed it routinely investigates concerns about tenancies but declined to comment specifically on Bio’s case. A spokesperson emphasised that council homes are a scarce resource intended for those in genuine need.
The story highlights broader tensions around the use of UK social housing by individuals with substantial means or overseas commitments, particularly as London faces a chronic shortage of affordable homes. As of now, Southwark Council has not publicly confirmed the status of any investigation.
