A COUNCIL house resident has been allowed to remain in their home despite winning a ‘significant sum’ of money. Details about the anonymous tenant’s windfall were revealed at a recent meeting of Stroud District Council’s Housing Advisory Panel, where members discussed the possibility of introducing a review process whereby all new tenancies can be ended should a resident’s financial situation improve. Speaking at the meeting, SDC’s housing advice manager Sue Leighton-Boyce told the panel: "We had somebody who won on the lottery a large, significant sum. "They are still our tenant although they clearly had enough money to go out and buy several homes." A spokesman for SDC has since clarified that the windfall occurred several years ago and that sum won is thought to be in the thousands, rather than the millions. Mrs Leighton-Boyce went on to describe another tenant who also chose to stay in their council house, despite marrying a ‘very nicely-off gentleman’ with a second property and a yacht abroad. "The other tenants were quite miffed about this," she added. "They asked why can’t you do anything? Why are they still allowed to live there?" Some 3,200 people are currently waiting for a council house in the district, which is not helped by the fact that tenants are legally entitled to remain in their homes for life. But the Coalition Government’s Localism Act affords councils more freedom to issue fixed-term contracts for new tenants that can be reviewed as often as every five years. Councillor Mattie Ross, SDC’s executive member for housing, said: "Following the Localism Act, many councils and social housing landlords are looking at revising their policies for new tenants. "These would encourage people who no longer needed social housing to move but it would only apply to new tenants and not existing tenants who have lifetime secure tenancies. "The gentleman who came into the money in this case would therefore be under no obligation to move." Meanwhile, it was announced this week Stroud District Council has become the first authority in the country to receive a national accreditation for its commitment to delivering a high-quality service to its housing tenants. The accolade – awarded by the Housing Quality Network – recognises the steps the council has taken to ensure standards are maintained, including the establishment of a tenant scrutiny panel and the introduction of ‘mystery shopper’ inspections. Cllr Mattie Ross, SDC’s executive member for housing, said: "I’m delighted. "Only a few years ago our housing service was effectively under special measures. Since then a great deal of work has been undertaken to improve the service from top to bottom, so it is great to see the hard work of tenants, staff and councillors pay off."