http://news.sky.com/home/uk-news/article/16146610

"Council Sublet Cheats ... "

But then:

"It is not currently an offence to sublet a council house, but officials believe as many as 160,000 tenants are doing just that."

Shouldn't it be:

"It is not currently an offence to sublet a council house, so obviously officials expect a lot of people to be doing it."

Why don't these muck-generators go and get a job?

I think the point is that subletting a council house is not in itself illegal but that (the councils beleive that) many that are subletting should not have the council property in the first place hence are cheating the system.

It may be (ie extremely likely) that it is a breach of the tenancy to sub-let it, it just isn't a criminal offence to breach your tenacy agreement in this way. If it is not a breach, you would still normally need the permission of the freeholder - which may be the basis for any estimation.