Tackling the housing cheats

Tenants' Link 01.09.20

Tackling the housing cheats

With such high demand for council housing, and thousands on the waiting list, housing fraud is scandalous. We’re cracking down on those who cheat the system to make sure housing fraudsters get the punishment they deserve. This can include losing their home and the right to social housing in the future, and also the possibility of prosecution, which may result in either a jail term and/or a hefty fine.

This month, two new Tenancy Fraud Officers take up their posts to investigate and tackle all types of housing fraud in the city. They will be dedicated to tracking down people who:

Try to jump the queue by lying on their housing application (for example by claiming to have children when this is not the case)
Try to cheat the system by making a fraudulent Right to Buy claim
Make illegal profits by subletting their council home to others
Live in a property after someone has died without permission to do so.

All of these types of housing fraud carry serious penalties and deprive people who genuinely need social housing. If we discover housing cheats are also guilty of benefit fraud (for example claiming benefits at an address which is illegally sublet) we will always pass on our information to the benefits office so the Government can take appropriate action as well.

While our new Tenancy Fraud Officers will be working hard to root out the cheats, we also rely on tenants and leaseholders to help us identify incidents of housing fraud. Please contact your Local Housing Office if you have suspicions about anyone in your neighbourhood who you think might be renting out their home without permission, got their home by giving false information or is living somewhere else. All reports will be treated in the strictest confidence and can be made anonymously.

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